The Return of the Vespers
by Stylie Kylie
Summary: It's been three years since the Clue Hunt, and everything is now back to normal for everyone. But will the peacefulness stay? What will happen to the Cahills when the Vespers return? Amian, Danalie, and a little Hamead. Rated T just in case. Takes part right after Into The Gauntlet. Vespers Rising and all things after never happened.
1. Reunion

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE 39 CLUES. I only own the made up characters and the plot. (I totally wish I own Amian though...)

This is my first fanfic, so please help me out! Reviews are welcome :)

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It was a lovely Thursday morning in London. A sleek, glossy black Ferrari with a black letter C engraved on its nameplate rolled smoothly into the enormous circular driveway of the Kabra Estate. The driver, a man with wisps of gray hair who looked somewhat in his fifties or sixties, opened both the side doors which arched on either upper side of the car, making it look like a great big raven. Amy Cahill thanked her Uncle Fiske and stepped out of the car, shaking her ruby-red curls. She had grown a bit in the past few years, her dull reddish-brown hair curling just so and becoming a full head of glowing flames in the sun. Of course, her hair wasn't the only thing that had changed in the years. Her reflexes, problem solving and fighting techniques through Madrigal training, and not to mention her fashion sense, had all developed to the point of perfection. Also, she had managed to get rid of most of her stuttering in front of people… excluding the exception, of course. Who, in fact, she was about to meet in a few minutes. Amy smiled secretly, blushing a little of the thought.

Her brother, Dan, jolted awake from his deep slumber as their once-au pair and now older sister Nellie turned on an alarm on her iPod, which started to blare some phrases in Japanese. "Where's the ninja? Who's the ninja?" He blubbered, half asleep, as he jumped up and banged his forehead on the Ferrari door. He howled in pain as Amy winced.

"For Gideon's sake, that hurt!" Dan complained, rubbing his forehead, which had formed an angry pink line across the middle. Inside the car, Saladin hissed awake with his fur standing and back arched, obviously unhappy to have been awaken in such a fashion. Amy reached inside his cage and gently took him out, stroking him until he calmed down again.

"You okay, Dan?" Amy put Saladin down on the floor, and scurried over in concern. Nellie examined Dan's forehead as Dan moaned dramatically, "No, Amy, I'm probably bleeding inside and will be suffering from concussion and brain tumor any moment and will have a serious loss of memory and oh my god I can't remember who I am! Oh my god!" He mock-swooned as Nellie grinned and tousled his hair, her pink, black and blonde hair waving in the slight wind.

"Oh please, if anything can knock Dan Cahill out with a blow to the forehead, it's a sledgehammer," chuckled Fiske as he brought the luggage from the trunk. Nellie laughed along as Amy giggled and gave Dan a squeeze. Dan squirmed out of her grasp and grinned, as Saladin jumped into his arms, _mrrp_ing loudly with a questioning look in his eyes, like he was saying, "That's very amusing and all, but where's my red snapper?"

"We'll get you some red snapper when we get in," Dan promised, just as the huge door of the Kabra Estate burst open. Three people walked out into the bright England sun and Amy's heart skipped a beat. Dan snickered audibly next to her. She jabbed his ribs.

"Always the usual entrance, huh?" Ian Kabra smiled. "Seems like Dan simply can't go anywhere without hurting himself before or otherwise."

Dan grinned, before fist-bumping Ian's outstretched hand (Ian looked bewildered for a second, as he was expecting a handshake, then quickly composed his face), and then shaking Natalie's.

"Nice to meet you too, Ian," Amy smiled as she shook Ian's hand in turn, silently relieved that she managed to say it without stuttering, and couldn't help noticing that his hand was really warm. It felt nice against her skin, and she blushed thinking this. She also couldn't help noticing he got a crew cut from the last time she saw him. He looked good. Well, better than good. She flushed redder and looked away from his captivating gaze. She suddenly felt sultry hot down her back, but it wasn't because of the sun.

"Well, someone's in love," Dan mocked, sniggering. Ian and Amy almost tore their hands away from each other's at the word "love", barely acknowledging the fact that they were holding on a bit longer than necessary for a handshake. Natalie scurried forward, trying to rescue Amy and Ian from the embarrassing moment, hugging Amy and glaring at Dan over her shoulder with a look on her face that clearly said, "Way to ruin the moment." Dan's grin broadened. But suddenly, Natalie gave a huge "KA-CHEW!" that reminded the rest of them of Natalie's feline allergy, so they quickly backed up, promising to change and clean themselves as soon as they got in the mansion.

Ian and Natalie shook hands and hugged Fiske and Nellie as well, and then leaving the butler they came out with to park the car and carry in the luggage (as well as give Saladin some first class red snapper), they went inside the luxurious mansion. Right after the end of the Clue hunt, Ian and Natalie had quickly made use of their income from Grace to build their own home, the new Kabra estate, and after taking care of the inheritance papers, which ensured them both the entire Kabra fortune because their parents were locked up in jail for life, they had managed to settle down. It was a hard start for them both, but they managed, at the same time losing much of their arrogance and replacing it with kindness. The clue hunt had brought about a lot of changes in many of the family members, which really helped to bond them all together- especially all who had participated in it.

It had been three years since the hunt ended, and Amy was just awed at how much her life had changed since. Before the hunt, she had been only been a shy, unnoticeable girl famous for her love of books only. She wasn't outstandingly good at anything, really, and was just used to being totally average. They didn't have much money, their parents had died, and she and Dan had been put under the care of the most nerve-racking person on Earth: their Aunt Beatrice. The only parts that shone in her dreary everyday life were the days spent with Grace. She had never dreamed, even in her wildest fantasies, that she would ever have to go around the world searching for 39 clues to the biggest secret of the world, nor come much to close to her liking with death. She never imagined that her family consisted of the most influential people on Earth, and that there were four branches of the family that continuously battled with each other (with real hatred) and one secret branch that was trying to unite them all. But it had all happened to her, within the period of just five weeks only. And to top it all off, they had actually won the Clue Hunt and somehow managed to unite the Cahills for the first time in five hundred years. They had become practically a legend in Cahill history, AND billionaires to boot! And now, after the Clue hunt, here she was, a fully trained, officially qualified Madrigal top agent who could take down quite a few number of people if she put her mind to it.

Of course, Amy's life wasn't the only thing that had changed. If someone had told her before or during the Clue hunt that she'd actually come to LIKE her Cahill relatives, she would probably have left it to Dan to tell them to "get lost before I take out my ninja moves on you." But again, that's what happened. Ian and Natalie weren't the only ones who grew out their pompous personalities for the better. Hamilton Holt was now their best friend, and Ned and Ted had been cured of their aftershocks from the explosion at the Library Company of Philadelphia, an incident Amy still remembered as clearly as if it happened yesterday. Ned and Ted's recovery had completely warmed Sinead, which soon made her Amy's closest girlfriend. Of course, there were some _official _changes as well, like Alistair becoming the head of the Ekat branch after throwing Bae Oh in jail, and making the Starling triplets his second-in-command. The Holts succeeded the leadership for the Tomas branch, while Ian and Natalie kept in charge of the Lucians, and Amy's new family of four officially became the head of the Madrigals. Jonah's parents, Broderick and Cora, had divorced, and soon after Cora was banished from the Janus branch because of all the trouble she caused for interfering unnecessarily Clue Hunt and putting Jonah in danger. So naturally, Jonah and Broderick were now in charge of their family branch. They had gathered for family reunions once a year so far, and all of the hunt participants, as well as some others, had attended the reunion. Amy and Dan had gotten to know lots of other Cahills, who were surprisingly pleasant people. They had made lots of new friends.

However, the reason that the reunion Amy and Dan were here for was different from the others was because it was a top-class meeting. Only the most skilled agents among each family branch were required to come, and it was also the first Lucian-hosting one, taking place after barely a month ago from the last reunion. It was so top-secret that even Amy and Dan didn't know exactly why they were here, except that it was an emergency meeting.

But Amy was still thrilled to be able to see all her friends and family again.

"So what's exactly up?" Dan asked when they got to the magnificent lounge of the Kabra estate, after cleaning themselves up from any cat hairs or germs that might affect Natalie. Amy took a second to admire the huge golden ceiling of the wide hexagonal room and the delicate ceramic ornaments that decorated it, and another second to be wowed at the beautiful vintage sofas and tea-table. She sucked her breath in at the massive glass cabinet in the corner, showing a priceless display of an assortment of jewelry. But Amy was suddenly distracted by someone who was standing way too close to her than necessary in the spacious room.

"Impressed, love?" Ian gave the infamous Kabra smirk as Amy blushed for what felt like the millionth time that day in front of Ian Kabra.

"Wh-who wouldn't be?" she said a bit breathlessly, inwardly cursing her stutter. "Uhhh- and _don't _c-call me _love!" _she added as an afterthought, and Ian's smirk melted into a friendly smile, which broadened.

"I must say Natalie did a fantastic job here, because it was her job to decorate the lounge. Those paintings there were from the living room in the original Kabra estate, but she thought it would look better here. And those tiaras..." Ian pointed to the glass cabinets, but before he could finish, Dan cleared his throat almost threateningly and Ian jerked his head back from Amy's, who only then realized his face had been within five inches of hers. She then saw the rest of them seated in the sofas, and Nellie and Fiske looked like they were trying hard not to laugh at Dan's face, which looked maniac enough to kill. The phrase_ if looks could kill_ flashed through Amy's mind, and halfheartedly glanced at Natalie, who looked like she wanted to kill Dan. Amy felt her cheeks burning as she practically flew to the sofas and beside Dan. Ian, a slight pink tinge in his beautiful chocolate complexion, did the same, but beside Natalie.

Dan rolled his eyes. "_IF_ you two are done making out, I'd like to discuss what exactly we're here for." He threw another blazing look at Ian, who dropped his head. Natalie wanted to kick Dan's shin, but she decided against it because she was wearing a rather tight Prada minidress, which she did NOT want to rip just for the fun of kicking him. Not to mention the fact that she was wearing heels. Amy looked embarrassed, while Nellie looked thoroughly amused, shifting the position of her nose ring.

Fiske cleared his throat, coming to the rescue. "Yes, Ian. What is the purpose of this meeting? And where are the others?"

Ian tore away from his stare at the floor to meet Fiske's eyes, suddenly businesslike. "Oh, yes. Um, you were the second to arrive. We invited all the heads of each family branch to attend the meeting. The Holts have given word they will be coming this evening, with the Starlings. Alistair should probably arrive within the hour. He just took off from a pit stop in Rome, after reloading fuel on his private jet. Jonah said he would get here as soon as possible after his concert in New York, although I don't know when exactly that will be."

"Who was the first to arrive?" Nellie inquired. "You guys?"

Natalie smiled widely. "No, actually. We also invited a top agent from our side of the family. Our cousin is going to attend the meeting with us."

"Your cousin?" Amy asked. "Have we met?"

"No." This time it was Ian who answered. "He arrived last night from Italy. He's English, but his father works at the headquarters there. He's nice," he added at Dan's raised eyebrow that clearly assumed the arrival of another evil Lucian. "He's actually quite pleasant. Probably because he's half Madrigal in blood, (everybody but Natalie gasped) as we found out quite recently," Ian continued. "He will be a valuable asset in this mission."

"Mission?" Fiske frowned.

"The mission we will alert all of you when everyone arrives," Natalie said, her face suddenly grave. Almost furious, but Amy thought she detected a sudden sadness in her eyes. But the look vanished as quickly as it came as she brightened. "But back to our cousin. I suppose you'll want to be introduced? He was just having breakfast with us before we excused ourselves to pick you guys up. He'll come down in a moment."

Just like on cue, a knock came to the door on the right, opposite the corridor they came from. "Come in," Ian called, standing up. Natalie scurried to the door eagerly, her jet-black hair flying behind her with an elegance that Amy felt sure she wouldn't ever achieve. "He's Natalie's and my favorite cousin, on our father's side," Ian explained his sister's sudden eagerness with a small smile.

The door opened and a grinning face stood on the other side. The person saluted slightly and shyly came in. He was almost as good-looking as Ian and Natalie. _Was being gorgeous a family trait in the Kabras?_ Amy wondered. He was as tall as Ian and had the same shade of midnight hair as the Kabras, but a considerably paler skin, closer to a dark ivory than pure chocolate. His hair was long and his bangs fell into his amber eyes, swept casually to the sides, giving the air of being well-groomed yet not cared for at the same time. Amy suddenly felt small at all this magnificence of the Kabra family.

"Presenting Mr. Christopher Ryan Kabra," Ian said smugly. Natalie pouted. "I wanted to do the honors!" she whined. Ian ignored her with a smirk on his face and continued, "Christopher, I'd like you to meet Fiske, Nellie, Dan, and of course, Amy," gesturing with his hand.

"Please, call me Chris," Chris said, shaking everyone's hand, then winked secretively when he came to Amy. Amy blushed again. She was almost getting tired of blushing. "Miss Amy Cahill, eh? I've heard a lot about you," he said. Amy blushed even more deeply, while Dan shot another annoyed look at Ian. Ian, glowering, threw his sister a dangerous look, who was suddenly immersed in touching up her nail polish.

After an hour of chatting with the Kabra family, with quite a few other embarrassing moments, she found out Chris was a really outgoing guy, in contrast to Ian. He was easy to be friends with- the type of guy who would have been really popular and fun in her school. Not to mention, he was totally good-looking. After a few minutes with him, Amy felt like she had known him for ages. He knew exactly how and when to make people laugh, and she felt really comfortable with him. To be honest, she also liked the slight looks of jealousy that stole across Ian's face whenever Chris made her laugh. He was pretty cool, as a friend.

But Amy thought she still liked Ian better.

After an hour, Alistair arrived as said, and after they all had a very lavish dinner which Dan particularly enjoyed, the Holts and the Starlings did. Amy and Dan were thrilled to see Hamilton again, and were more than surprised to see him getting along quite well with Sinead. After all, it was a well-known fact that the Ekats and the Tomases weren't famous for getting along. Ned, Ted, Madison and Reagan seemed to have developed a gang against the "lovebirds", as they referred to, making a disgusted face. Dan rolled his eyes.

"Count me in. Ian and Amy made us all sick making out the whole of this afternoon."

Which earned him a punch both from a flushing Amy and a fuming Natalie.

The Janus leaders arrived half an hour later, Jonah still in his stage outfit, in a copter driven by Mr. McIntyre.

"What did I say, yo? Told ya I'd be comin' as soon as the show ended!" he said proudly, earning a chest bump and a fist bump from Dan, Hamilton, Ned, and Ted. After everyone had time to catch up with each other, they were all escorted to a secret Lucian headquarter in the bottommost basement of the Kabra Estate, and finally, the meeting began. All the chattiness minutes before had subsided into a sober and silent atmosphere with a slight tension in the air. Everyone seemed nervous at what Ian had to say. Just how important was the news that he had gone as far as calling an emergency meeting with the heads of each branch? Everybody seated themselves quickly around a huge circular table that looked like what people from the UN use when they debate, except that it had the huge Lucian family crest printed in the middle of it. They sat patiently, as Ian rose from his seat.

"The reason we called an emergency meeting with the top agents of each family branch ONLY," Ian began slowly, "was because there has been a massive crisis. The contents of today's meeting are top-secret and are crucial that none is spread outside the walls of this room. Is it agreed?"

There was a quite murmur of agreement. Amy's heart started thumping in worry. Dan looked just about wild with anticipation, his eyes shining, and hanging dangerously off the edge of his seat. Which made her worry even more.

Ian and Natalie shared a look of the utmost worry, and surprisingly, fright. People started fidgeting in their seats, wondering what had possibly happened to make the Kabras, of all people, this concerned.

After a pause that seemed like many millennia, Natalie stood up, grave etched into every part of her pretty face. She took a very loud and shaky breath, and spoke startlingly in a very wobbly voice that seemed like it would break into tears. Dan suddenly felt a deep pang in his chest, for some foreign reason.

"I- I don't know how to break this to you…" Natalie stammered. Amy's heart faltered for a split second, like it knew what was coming before _she _did, and everybody else sucked in their breath, waiting for the rest. The moment seemed balanced uneasily at the tip of a blade, threatening to topple and crash onto the ground. Her hands began to sweat uncontrollably as Natalie finally opened her mouth again.

"… but Isabel Kabra has escaped."

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That... was a pathetic attempt at a cliffhanger... did you like it? *worries, worries* R&R please!


	2. News

First of all, I have got to say THANK YOU everyone for my very first reviews! I am so grateful :) I honestly didn't expect any.

Special thanks to LIR for taking the extra time to find and correct my mistakes for me :)

And I was amazed at how many people viewed this story! Like, wow!

My updates might get slower because school has started again and I'm extra busy :'( In addition, a typhoon is hitting where I live, and it's supposed to be the biggest one this year!

But I promise I'll try :) Thanks again for all the reviews and views!

Now, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 clues.

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_"…But Isabel Kabra has escaped."_

The whole arena suddenly fell into absolute silence, like someone had appeared out of nowhere and doused cold water on everybody or something. Amy couldn't believe her ears. Isabel? Escape? How was that even possible? Everybody in the arena had witnessed everything that happened after the Clue hunt together- from Isabel's trial to her jailing. They had also been confidentially informed by none other than Ian himself that very day that "the Lucian computer program controlling the security for Isabel's cell was designed by the best agents of all four family branches… no, five," he had corrected quickly, with an apologetic glance and smile at Amy. "Sorry, I'm still not used to the fact…" Amy's heart had fluttered, she remembered, as she watched him turn back to the rest of them and continued to explain how the walls couldn't be broken through unnoticed because there was a very precise alarm system in case it was tried. He said it also had a very complicated list of pass codes just in order to gain access, and another series of mind-boggling combinations to be able to activate it. And since the codes were destroyed right after locking Isabel in, it was literally the next thing to impossible to set her free, let alone succeed in a solitary attempt to escape. In other words, it was hack-proof. Amy suddenly felt nauseous. This couldn't be happening, not just when finally, everything was back to normal. Reality just couldn't come down this harshly on her. This all had to be a dream, and so far, it was going down as her worst nightmare. She had to wake up any moment.

Except that she was already wide awake.

And that's what terrified her.

Then the silence broke, and there was complete pandemonium. People started yelling at the same time, some accusing, some demanding, and some just sitting paralyzed with shock.

"That's not possible!" Dan was hollering at the top of his lungs, jumping up and down in the air. He seemed to be saying it over and over again to convince himself, rather than as a confrontation to Natalie's piece of devastating news. "How is that possible?" he shouted again, voicing Amy's thoughts out loud.

"I thought it was hack-proof! _You said it was hack-proof!_" Hamilton was demanding furiously at Ian, jabbing at him. Reagan was crying and Madison was freaking out next to her, a look of horror plastered onto her face. Eisenhower and Mary-Todd had leaped out of their seats and were arguing with Fiske and Mr. McIntyre, who were trying to make their way to the Kabras. Alistair was interrogating Natalie with such ferocity that he almost impaled Broderick Wizard with his cane, who was staring into space with a dumb expression on his face, like a boulder just fell out of nowhere onto his head. Jonah was talking to no one in particular, saying, "Yo, come on, is this like a really sick joke or what? Cuz it ain't funny, dawg." The Starlings looked traumatized, and Nellie had a hard expression on her face.

As for Amy, she felt like drowning herself. This was the woman who had killed her parents and who knows how many other people and even went as far as killing her fellow Lucian partner, Irina Spasky (Amy felt a sharp pang in her chest; Irina had died saving herself and Dan from Isabel) as well as holding the people they loved as hostages. This was the woman who was bloodthirsty enough to even consider sacrificing her own CHILDREN so she could get the power she wanted. Everyone in the arena at that moment had either been threatened with the lives of the people they loved or their own by Isabel Kabra at least once in the Clue hunt. And the fact that she had escaped her confinements and was on the loose once again was more than Amy or anybody else could bear.

Finally, Ian slammed his hands down on the table, making a loud noise rather like a gunshot that rebounded around the walls of the dome-shaped headquarters. Everybody went quiet for a moment, startled, their attention momentarily diverted back to Ian, who quickly took advantage of that brief momentum to speak again.

"Would you_ please_ just allow us to explain?" Ian threw his hands up exasperatedly. He looked absolutely stressed out. "Do you not all think that the news was hardest for Natalie and me to accept? She's our godforsaken m…mo…_moth_…" he shook his head, portraying such obvious disgust for Isabel Kabra that he couldn't even get the word "mother" out properly. He huffed loudly, frustrated, and continued. "We all know perfectly well what kind of crimes Isabel is responsible for, and how all of you think of that. But just because were… _closely related_," he spat out with contempt, "you have no right to jump to conclusions. I know what you're all thinking," he said coldly, looking everyone in the eyes. Was it just Amy's imagination, or had Ian's eyes really softened the tiniest bit when their eyes just met?

Natalie jumped in before Ian could get any angrier, and addressed everyone in a pleading voice. "What we want to say is, please believe us when we say we had nothing to do with it. She glanced at her brother before taking another deep breath before continuing. "We know that it's totally natural for us to be suspected. We also know we can't prove that we're not the ones who did it. But-"

"But just remember, _we're_ the ones who disowned _her_," Ian cut in, eyes flaring.

"Please," Natalie said brokenly in a barely audible voice.

Everybody was completely silent for the third time, this time determining the amount of truth in Ian and Natalie's words. As much as Amy wanted to believe them, she couldn't help feeling an ounce of suspicion for the Kabra brother and sister. She hated herself for not being able to believe them fully, but she just couldn't deny the fact that the last time she trusted Ian had changed, he had come inches away from succeeding in burying Amy, Dan, and Alistair Oh alive under a cave no one knew existed, in a country miles away from home.

Just then, Hamilton suddenly stood up and pointed one accusing finger toward the Kabras. "You're right. We can't say right out that you guys are the ones who did it, because we have no proof. But since we have no proof, we can't say that you guys aren't guilty, either," he said, narrowing his eyes.

Ian blinked for a second, confused, and then looked flabbergasted as he slowly digested the meaning behind Hamilton's words. "So you're, what, expecting us to PROVE that we are innocent? You just said it yourself! There isn't any solid proof! If we'd actually found any, then it would be clear exactly how Isabel escaped, which is technically impossible, by the way. Well, we could always show you our computer history, but- and I'm NOT bragging- you know that we ARE clever enough to tamper with that, and you're going to hold that against us no matter how much we say so." He furrowed his brow. "Is it so hard to just believe us for once? We KNOW how much horrible things we did in the past, but you can't deny that Isabel made us do it! You don't even know how much we regret it now!"

"'Horrible' doesn't even cover it, and he seemed pretty eager then," Amy heard Dan mutter to himself. Although the others didn't hear it, their faces were portraying identically suspicious expressions with narrowed eyes, reflecting Dan's words, as they watched Ian.

Amy looked up, and was jolted to see a look of genuine hurt draped across Ian's face. He opened his mouth to say something, when Natalie rose from her seat. Amy looked at her face, and was startled to see such a variety of emotions flitting across her pretty face. She looked sad, angry, but at the same time, strangely determined. Everybody's eyes were on Natalie as, with a nimble flick of her lean fingers, she withdrew a small silver object from a hidden pocket in her designer minidress, which Amy realized with horror, looked awfully similar to a particular dart gun that had been pointed at them in the Catacombs, precisely three years ago. It was Natalie's signature weapon, a trademark which was well-known to carry a variety of lethal poisons, and which she willingly showed open fondness for. There was an instant uproar, and everything happened simultaneously.

Ian looked absolutely staggered. "Natalie?" he whispered in a strangled voice, his eyes bulging. Eisenhower Holt sprang up from his seat and bellowed, "I knew she was the traitor!" The Holt twins and Mary-Todd were screaming, and Amy instinctively threw herself in front of Dan. Without a second's doubt, Hamilton lunged for Ian and tackled him to the ground. Not letting go of his Armani shirt, he swiveled and made for Natalie, whose gun's polished surface was glinting maliciously as she calmly raised it high into the air…

…and slammed it down on the polished concrete floor, where it shattered into a million pieces with an ear-splitting CRASH!

It looked like someone had hit a pause button during a movie. Everybody stood still, ogling the scattered remains of the once-lethal weapon and looking astounded for the second time that day. Hamilton's hand had frozen in midair, inches away from Natalie's wrist, while his other hand had slackened its death grip on Ian's collar. Ian, on the other hand, was gaping stupidly like a goldfish, and Dan's mouth was hanging open in a perfect O. The loaded poison, a sinister dark blue, was slowly seeping out and pooling on the floor, soaking Natalie's designer heels, but for once she didn't seem to notice. Instead, she looked up defiantly into Hamilton's awed eyes and said simply,

"People change."

Although she was just about as shocked as the others, Amy suddenly felt a wave of sympathy and a sudden urge to hug the girl. She might have been through dozens of things that most adults would never even have the chance to encounter, but she was still only fourteen. Amy suddenly felt ashamed of herself for not believing the Kabras earlier. Of course they had changed. The fact that they were Isabel's children had not mattered to the woman. Isabel had done terrible, almost inhuman things to them as well. She knew that to Ian, the most precious person to him in the world was his sister, Natalie, and the same was true vice versa- just like her and Dan. And the last time they had faced Isabel, she had shot her own daughter in the foot, which was not something you could easily forgive- and Ian had never been much of a forgiving person, back then or now. Although Amy knew perfectly well from a heartbreaking firsthand experience that the Kabras could be very good actors when they wanted to, Amy sensed sincerity deep down in her heart from every word they had said and done- it was something that couldn't be feigned.

Hamilton now looked sheepish, and set Ian back on his feet apologetically. He stuffed his hands in his purple tracksuit pockets, and silently went back to his seat. Eisenhower was still so shocked and frozen that his face was purple, and it took the combined effort of Mary-Todd, Madison, and Reagan to get him back in his. Amy slowly lowered herself into her seat, leaned over and tapped Dan's chin, whose mouth was still opened so wide that, Amy thought, would soon be housing flies in it. Dan blushed-_Dan_blushed? Amy mentally raised her eyebrows- and came back to his senses, snapping his mouth back shut. Jonah, whose father had made the smart move of pushing him under the table, clambered back up embarrassedly, and the Ekats, who had pulled out hidden weapons of their own, (that looked strangely like a fencing sword pulled out from a cane, two small water guns, and a laser pointer, but of course Amy knew it wasn't what it looked like; they weren't Ekaterinas for nothing, after all) lowered their hands. Fiske and Mr. McIntyre looked like they had a heart attack, slumping into their seats. Amy caught Nellie, who had the best reflexes out of all the known Madrigals, inconspicuously clip something back onto her necklace, which Amy knew more than well was in fact a secret Madrigal weapon disguised as a funky silver necklace charm in the shape of a skull, suiting Nellie's style perfectly so it wouldn't be suspected. Amy had seen it work once before, and decided that she never wanted to be within its shooting range because the poisons it shot, although delivered in small doses, could be very dangerous.

After another short awkward pause, Fiske gave a formal apology to Ian and Natalie, and everyone else mumbled theirs. Although Ian still looked slightly unsatisfied, they accepted in a surprisingly polite, understanding fashion (Natalie even managed to mumble a hesitant "Thank you"), and the meeting finally resolved its normal pace.

Nellie was the first one to ask the questions.

"Okay… I don't doubt what you say, kiddos. Come to think of it, I don't even see how you guys could have helped, because we all saw the pass codes being destroyed. But then again, how in the most motherly name in Madeleine Cahill did she manage to escape? That's what I want to know."

Natalie frowned. "Well, we're not sure, because even we were thinking that we had her in for good. We can't think of any possibilities, because considering the system, it really isn't anything but hack-proof."

Ian furrowed his brow with a thoughtful expression on his face. "We made sure that we disarmed Isabel before locking her in, and no one hasn't ever gone down to her chambers since, because we strictly forbade it. The alarm hasn't been sounded, which only means the program was accessed under full permission- in other words, with the full list of codes. Which can't be possible, because we deleted the codes after she was locked. No one knows the full set of combinations needed, because the computer completed the final list after mixing all the separate lists of codes input into one big list. We made sure the database was cleared of everything and even destroyed the computer that did it so that the history was completely rooted out."

Dan looked horrified. "But if no one goes down there, then what about her_ food_?"

Everyone stared at him as if he'd grown a third head. "What?" he asked. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable question to him. Although Amy knew what a serious crisis they were dealing with right now, she had to suppress her urge to roll her eyes. Sometimes, Dan could be really oblivious to tension.

"We Lucians are perfectly capable of delivering food and other necessary items for survival through a monitored program, thank you very much,_ Daniel_," Natalie said with a little irritated flick of her hair.

Dan, looking more than a little miffed at the word "Daniel", opened his mouth to retort in his dweeb-ish way when Fiske interrupted. "Anything on the security cameras?"

Ian blanched a little. "No. Peculiarly, the security cameras were breached at that precise moment so that we got a fake screen. She was pictured to be sleeping… until it was deactivated all of a sudden and we were left staring at an empty cell. Apparently, it was hacked too, which is again, almost impossible because it's linked to Isabel's security program, and therefore shares the same access combinations."

Mr. McIntyre cleared his throat. "I noticed we are only talking about Isabel's escape. I was under the impression you put your parents… I mean, Vikram and Isabel into neighboring cells? It seems to me that Vikram did not escape with her, and if so, he would have witnessed everything. Why not question him?"

Amy didn't fail to miss the sudden look of hurt Natalie and Ian shared for a split second, before their faces hardened.

"…Vikram is dead. Isabel killed him during her escape," Ian said after a little pause. There were slight, brief gasps of surprise that followed. Although he spoke shortly without betraying any emotion, Amy noticed his knuckles were white because he was clenching Natalie's hand so hard it was shaking. Natalie winced a little, and they both looked so wounded Amy felt another surge of sympathy. She understood the feeling. Vikram might have been horrible to Ian and Natalie, but he was still their father, and the one they had looked upon all throughout their childhood. Amy herself knew how it felt to lose a parent. She had experienced the same sadness when they had lost Grace, and further back, her parents, even if she was a bit young then.

After waiting their audience to quiet down, which was not long, Ian and Natalie exchanged looks again, although this time they looked anxious, just like they did right before they delivered the news of Isabel's escape. Ian looked around, making sure that everyone's attention was back on him, and started speaking again. "With the sincerest hope that you will not react to THIS news as dramatically as well," he emphasized, glancing pointedly at the Holts who visible stiffened, "this brings us to something else we found out about Isabel. If anything, this could be more catastrophic than the fact that Isabel escaped. We have a large problem in our hands."

Natalie piped up from beside him, looking uncharacteristically small. "In the process of researching about the escape, we found out more about Isabel's side of the family in the Lucian agent database. It was very heavily guarded, and now we think we know why. Her maiden name is Isabel Vesper-Hollingsworth Kabra. She is part of the Vespers, and although we don't know how she got out, it's almost certain she had the aid of one to do so, and now we think she's going back to… her family. For revenge on the Cahills."

Natalie said all of this in a rush, especially this last part, so that Amy was confused. The Vespers? Who were the Vespers? What in the world of Cahills did Ian and Natalie mean? Amy looked around. Hamilton had a quizzical expression on his face, and Dan was staring at the Kabras as if they suddenly had six more arms and were speaking alien. Almost everyone obviously clearly didn't have a clue as to what they were saying. But the adults, however, were a different story. Every adult except for Broderick Wizard and Nellie had leapt up from their seats and looking half crazed.

"Impossible!" Fiske was yelling his head off. Amy was alarmed. Fiske wasn't the type to lose his head often, but this time, he was positively shaking.

Alistair was speaking in rapid Korean while Mr. McIntyre was waving his cane around in the air, answering to Broderick's and Nellie's interrogation in a loud voice. Eisenhower Holt and Mary-Todd were bellowing to each other, jabbing their fingers at the Holt kids. The younger Cahills just looked at each other in alarm as the adults started losing it, then Dan sprang up, unable to take it any longer.

"Dudes! Hold up! What do you mean, the Vespers?" Dan shouted so loudly his voice drowned out everyone else's. "What's that got anything to do with us?"

Ian's head snapped up at this, and looked at Amy, Dan, and Nellie to Fiske, the Holts to Eisenhower and Mary-Todd, and the Starlings to Alistair. "…They…" he stammered. "They don't know?"

Mary-Todd straightened her back and placed her massive hands on her hips, looking quite intimidating. "Well, of course they didn't know! They didn't NEED to know! They haven't been around for five hundred years! At least not actively, anyways…"

Alistair threw his hands up in the air, almost skewering Eisenhower Holt with the point of his cane, who looked disgruntled at this fact. He jabbed one long, wrinkly finger at the Kabras. "What we mean is that they died out since Damien! Are you telling me that they didn't?"

Ian opened his mouth to reply, but then Dan slammed his hands down on the table. The glass shook and his hands left opaque palm prints on its clear, polished surface. "We've had ENOUGH, for the sake of ninjas!" he cried out. "What the heck are all of you talking about, huh?"

After a short silence, Mr. McIntyre, the first to calm down, cleared his throat. "Obviously, the younger Cahills aren't informed of who the Vespers are. And seeing how things have turned out," he said, nodding toward the Kabras, "they have clearly got to know before we do anything else."

Fiske paused for a second, then nodded, sitting back down in his seat wearily. He seemed decades older, all of a sudden. Eisenhower and Mary-Todd reluctantly went back to theirs, both red in the face. Alistair, not taking beady his eyes off Ian, slowly did so too, as did Nellie and Broderick, both looking frustrated. Dan crossed his arms and muttered an exasperated "Finally!" as he too, sat down. Mr. McIntyre remained standing, leaning tiredly on his cane, and when everyone had the time to calm down, he began.

"Well, the first and foremost thing you should all know is that the Vespers are the Cahill family's greatest enemy. It all started five hundred… yes, Dan?"

Dan felt like he was back at school as he raised his hand and interrupted, "What are they, another family?'

Mr. McIntyre shook his head. "No, they are not. The main line consists of family members, yes, but they are more like a giant undercover organization, made up of the most skillful agents of the world only. Some Cahills are part of it, just like Isabel Kabra." Mr. McIntyre's eyes seemed to pierce Amy as he said this. His stare lingered for a second too long, which made Amy feel uncomfortable. She sighed a little in relief as his gaze moved away. She hadn't realized her hands were sweating. "They come together, united under one purpose; world domination."

This time, it was Ted- or was it Ned?- who asked a question. "But what do we have to do with them?"

"Like I was saying, it all started five hundred years ago. Damien Vesper, the founder, was close friends with Gideon Cahill. They were working together to find a cure to the plague known as Black Death, or so Gideon thought. In the process, as you all may know, Gideon Cahill managed to combine 39 ingredients to create the first version of the final serum. But the problem was, it wasn't perfect. It started killing Gideon from the inside- and worse, Damien had started to realize what Gideon had created. Gideon had always known that Damien was greedy, but it cost him his life. He separated the serum's abilities into four, and gave his children- Luke, Katherine, Thomas, and Jane- each serum, and after trusting them with his life's work, he destroyed himself along with his laboratory, preventing the serum from going into Damien's evil hands.

"However, there was a… misunderstanding," Mr. McIntyre grimaced a little, and then continued. "Thomas and Katherine thought Luke had killed their father, and after a fight, Luke and Jane and left the island, angered. Soon thereafter, Thomas and Katherine followed suit, leaving Olivia, who was pregnant with Madeleine, alone. Thus began the history of the Cahill family. But since Damien lost the serum, he has been chasing it down ever since. He was aware of its properties, demonstrated unwillingly by Gideon, and he was obviously thinking that it would heighten his chances of ruling the world, which I am sad to say that he is very right. And that is the task the Vespers have been silently working at for centuries, hidden in the sidelines, working undercover, waiting for the perfect time to unleash their plan."

At this, Dan couldn't help whooping and punching his fist into the air and saying, "But they're too late! We got to the serum first!" Hamilton and Jonah grinned as they joined in with a round of high-fives.

Mr. McIntyre looked more than a little irritated, but he smiled politely at them. But Ian stood up and his face was startlingly stony, which instantly brought their laughter to a screeching halt.

"That's true," Ian said, snorting. "Or rather, that WOULD be true if their goal was still focused on world domination. Which isn't the case anymore."

William McIntyre, who had taken a break from speaking and was busy polishing his glasses, dropped them with a loud clang as the wires collided with the surface of the glass table. Apparently, the adults weren't aware of THIS fact. Dan, who was goofing around just five seconds ago, gaped at Ian. Nellie frowned.

"What do you mean, kiddo?" she asked. Natalie sighed.

"It appears that the Vespers have recently changed their ultimate goal. Until now, it had been world domination. That made them pursue the serum, believing that it will strengthen their agents by granting them superhuman powers and therefore be a valuable asset in reaching their purpose. But apparently," Natalie paused for a moment to scoff in disgust, and continued, "Apparently they now suspect that the final serum wasn't the only thing Gideon discovered how to make. They believe that just before Gideon burned his laboratory down, he found the secret to… an immortal life, and that the serum has a role it supposedly plays in pursuing the secret," she finished.

A stunned murmur broke out among the audience.

"_Immortal life?_" Dan, Ned and Ted exclaimed in unison. Hamilton let out a low whistle.

"Cool, yo!" Jonah marveled.

"Gideon burned his house down?" Amy asked, remembering the fire in Grace's mansion and the one that killed her parents with a sudden pang. Just what was it with Cahills and fire?

"Damien Vesper?" Sinead frowned. "I'm sure I've heard of him somewhere…"

"The role of the serum?" Nellie inquired, quizzically.

Ian held his hands up, inwardly groaning. "That's not the point, but the UNNECESSARY details, if you please. The main point is that they are very skilled. Only the most talented and the most ruthless agents are ever granted Vespership. And unlike us Cahills, (here he paused and looked meaningfully at Dan, which made Amy giggle softly) they know how to wait. They've waited for five hundred years- maybe even longer- they have the patience to wait a little more. And during those five hundred years, _they've_ been building their strength as well as their numbers, while _we_ were busy trying to bomb each other up. They have probably never been this stronger, and what I was trying to say is that Isabel has escaped to them! She's provoked them into action!"

"Since Isabel has been part of the Cahills for some time, we can be sure she's been feeding them top-secret information, at least until right before the Clue hunt began. They probably know lots about us already, but we so little about them," Natalie said. "Their plans are based carefully on QUITE accurate information, and now their plans are in action. Signs of Vesper activity have begun to rise to the surface. It hasn't been yet confirmed for sure that they are on the move, but there is some evidence. Cahills have been disappearing, slowly but steadily, and we think the Vespers are apprehending them."

Dan waved his hand above his head. "What does _apprehending_ mean?"

Ian fought the urge to roll his eyes. As much as he liked the sister, Dan really irked sometimes… _Wait a second, what are you thinking, what am I thinking, I don't LIKE like Amy, just maybe as a friend…_ Ian shook his head and focused his eyes on Dan. "It means, to explain it from your point of view, to KIDNAP someone, Daniel."

Ian couldn't help adding the last part in annoyance, but Dan just blinked and the last word passes unnoticed. "Kidnap? You mean, the Vespers are going around kidnapping Cahills? What, haven't they got anything better to do?"

This time, Amy couldn't resist rolling her eyes. "Dan, you dweeb."

Dan bristled, but before he had a chance to retort, Natalie cut in. "They're collecting hostages, we THINK. They already know we have the serum, through Isabel (Dan did a double take at that) and we're thinking they figure that the formula we have would be beyond useful to their goal. The serum, supposedly, is the key to immortal life, although I don't know the details exactly. But it's clear they think it's time to act, and that means that they are completely ready for whatever consequences it may bring. Even if it means war."

Natalie paused, letting it sink in. Everybody looked uneasy, fidgeting in their seats. Then Fiske cleared his throat.

"You mentioned a mission earlier. What did you mean?" he asked.

"Actually, it's not much of a mission," Ian replied. "The main thing is that we have to train. We have to recruit all the best agents possible and make an army of our own to prepare for whatever is coming, because once the Vespers set their mind on something, it becomes inevitable. From what we've found out, we're already outnumbered. But we're sure that they won't come at us directly. They will probably take about a month, anyway, before striking. Knowing them, they'll completely perfect their plan before trying to take us down. That gives US about a month to prepare to fight back. We don't need to go to them- they'll come to us."

Ian said it as if he was talking about the weather, while his audience was dumbfounded. Fight? With the Vespers? Prepare in the space of a month? Was it even possible?

"Are you guys crazy?" Hamilton spluttered out. "Have you completely lost your mind?"

Ian stared at him coolly, and Amy was astounded to see that each corner of his lips were curled upwards, if only very little. "Actually, I believe not. I assume you're all thinking that a month is too short a time to prepare. I don't agree. We have all been training hard since the Clue Hunt, yes? That gives us about three years of training done already. And there are much more agents that could help than you think, you know. Besides, whether it takes a month or a year, Isabel WILL join them, and they WILL come to fight. The longer it takes, the more advantage they get. This whole thing was bound to come, anyway- ever since Gideon and Damien. We just have to focus on what we're doing, recruit more agents, and if possible, get more information on the Vespers and what they are doing. And remember- we have the advantage of the serums our ancestors took. If anything, we're already superhuman."

"Okaaaay," Dan raised his eyebrows incredulously. "You guys are officially nuts."

"That concludes our meeting," Ian said smoothly, ignoring Dan's statement. "Any other questions?" He looked around. Everyone just looked like a tidal wave had passed over them. Such a cascade of unbelievable news, and they didn't know what to do. Then, from the corner of the arena, Chris stood up and walked over. Amy was startled once again- this was the first time she had noticed him since the meeting started. Then she mentally punched herself in the thigh. Of course he hadn't participated; he was Ian and Natalie's cousin and a Lucian, after all. It would be natural for him to have known everything earlier.

"I have a question," he said. Then, after a pondering pause, he added, "Or maybe two." Ian nodded. "Go ahead."

"First of all, how did you learn about everything? You specifically told me the database was blocked. And secondly, you mentioned earlier that it looked like a Vesper agent helped her get out, whatever the means. What's the evidence you've got?"

Natalie shrugged. "To the answer to your first question, we found Isabel's hidden possessions in the previous Kabra estate. We X-rayed the whole thing before moving here, remember? After finding out from the Lucian database that she was half Vesper, we had to a bit of digging." Natalie wrinkled her nose, then continued, "We hadn't destroyed anything, thank the heavens and Luke Cahill. Ian was all for burning it all up three years ago… but anyway, we rummaged around, which was quite a bit of a messy business, by the way, but we finally found her notes and files and stuff hidden in a secret place. Everything we told you today was there."

"As to your second question," Ian lifted his head, and looked toward the rest of the audience. "I think you should all know this as well. The reason we concluded that another Vesper helped them out was… due to a very significant piece of evidence." Ian turned around and pulled a small black object rather like a car key. He pressed a button towards the ceiling, and the whole arena dimmed as a gigantic screen suddenly illuminated in front of them. There was a little rumbling, and a small black podium rose up from the ground, with a matching sophisticated black laptop on its top, that was engraved with the red Lucian crest. Ian got to the laptop like he was about to give a presentation or something, clicked around for a moment, and a picture of Isabel's cell popped up on the screen. The cell was a bit dark, but there was enough light in the room from a single yellow bulb to see something large and smoky grey plastered all over its walls like graffiti, creating a single shape.

Something creepy enough to send chills down everyone's back.

Something that Amy was sure she'd seen before.

But where?

"This was left by the Vespers, after Isabel's escape," explained Ian, his face grave and his voice a monotone. He adjusted the size of the picture until the shape became clear.

It was the letter V, painted so intricately it was almost artistic, that it looked like it was made up of tiny wisps of smoke. It stretched out the entire perimeter of the wall, so it looked more intimidating; another sign of the dooming disaster destined to come.

"It's the symbol of the Vespers. They have officially returned."

* * *

Is it okay? *facepalm* Tell me if you liked it, or if some parts should be fixed! R&R!


	3. Kidnapped

I'm SO sorry it took so long to update! I know it's just an excuse, but I really had so much things to do!

I have an exam in three weeks now, so I don't think I'll be able to update again in September. But I PROMISE I'll update as soon as I finish my exams, so PLEASE wait! Patience will be rewarded :)

Thanks so much for the reviews and views! I was amazed. Again. Oh, and I totally appreciate CCs, by the way, so don't hesitate to point things out for me! Your CCs help make the story better :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues, or I'd be totally rich.

* * *

Amy slumped back into her chair and groaned. She simply just couldn't concentrate. Her head felt like it was about to split apart or something. Which wasn't that surprising, seeing she'd had a very stressing and difficult night, to start with. Amy had woken up in the morning covered in sweat and screaming due to a perfectly disturbing nightmare that involved Isabel Kabra (no surprises there), and until now, she had been sitting in front of the computer for ages trying to search for information that wasn't accessible. There was absolutely nothing, _nothing_ at all about the Vespers that she could access in any of the Madrigal files. NOTHING. She had at least expected SOMETHING after all that research, but strangely, there seemed to be nothing related to the Vespers at all in the Cahill database. Amy had tried searching with every keyword and combination she had been able to think of, even going as far as trying anagrams of the word "Vesper," but the program was just reset every single time with the completely annoying pop up message that said, "No results found for keyword." Five hours of that was enough to drive anyone crazy, even if it was the calm and patient Amy Hope Cahill. She huffed again in frustration as the computer redirected her to the previous page for about the millionth time.

From the opposite side of the table, around Amy's computer, Sinead's head popped up. Amy's roommate had been complaining nonstop about their unsuccessful research for the last two hours, cursing her computer, the adults, and the Vespers randomly in between. Although Amy wasn't _that_ ferocious, she had to admit she shared the same, identical feelings as Sinead, who was currently muttering loudly about something around the lines of "It's not as if we knew about the Vespers all along, the database is empty, and they STILL expect us to find information on them!" and shaking her auburn hair. Amy maniacally clicked her mouse around her useless screen to show her mutual agreement, but of course nothing came up miraculously, which was something she was secretly hoping for. She grimaced slightly, massaging her temples; her headache was getting worse, which wasn't helping her at all. Amy sighed, stood up and grabbed her porcelain mug from among all the sloppily stacked piles of various documents and notes which had proved themselves futile in their research. She desperately needed a drink.

Sinead took a breath from her continuous grumbling, and looked at Amy in concern. "Headache?" she asked. Amy nodded with her lips pursed, her eyebrows knitting together. Sinead waved Amy away. "It's totally fine- you didn't look at all well for a while, you know, and even if it's a load more of work, I'm pretty sure I can handle it. On second thoughts, it doesn't really matter because there's nothing we've found out anyway, so I'd better go to Alistair and ask him why we can't get access to the files on the database, and return all this junk." Sinead gestured halfheartedly to the messy heaps of papers strewed across both their tables and rolling around on the floor with a hopeless look. Sinead scrunched her face, and stooped down to gather them up. "You obviously need a rest," she continued, now busily fastening the papers together with a paper clip. "Headaches can be a symptom of many diseases, but right now it's pretty clear that it's because of all this stress, plus the long exposure to electric waves radiating from the computer," she added, hooking a strand of hair behind her ear. Sinead straightened herself up and, with an armful of papers, patted Amy on the shoulder lightly. "Go get some rest."

Amy smiled at her best friend apologetically, and then quickly made her way to the kitchen. At least she tried, because she got lost in five minutes. The Kabra Estate was way too big for her liking, she decided, even if it _was_ extremely glamorous. It made her feel rather like a princess, and her prince…

Amy blushed, suddenly grateful that there was nobody around her. God, what was she thinking? She shook her head firmly and tried to navigate her way correctly, but a certain someone with jet black hair, bright amber eyes and cinnamon skin kept forcing her way into her mind. She couldn't let herself be distracted, especially at a time of great peril like this. Amy sighed. There was a reason she didn't tell Sinead about her nightmare, even though her roommate persisted in asking her to do so. When Amy put her mind to something, she had an iron will, so Sinead never got to hear the whole thing, but wasn't it pretty obvious what she had dreamt of, relating to the previous night? Amy shuddered. She had dreamt of every single moment with Isabel Kabra that she'd encountered, from the time when she was a little kid and told Isabel about the koalas on her pajamas that ultimately lead to her parent's death, to everything that happened in the Gauntlet. She was especially frightened about the memory in Australia, when Isabel had stuck Dan, Nellie, Shep, and herself in a mine with the most poisonous snake in the world and almost killed them all. She remembered how scared she had been, inches away from her death, but it wasn't about her. It was about everyone else- especially Dan, who had an asthma attack right in the middle of it and came way too close for her liking to dying. She couldn't bear thinking about what would have happened to her only brother if they hadn't managed to retrieve his inhaler from where Dan had tossed it, right next to the snake. Of course, the incident in the Gauntlet was equally terrifying, and so was the time when Isabel had come tantalizingly close in making Amy shark bait. Of course, Amy would have rather died than give Isabel the clues she had tried to weasel out of her in both incidents, but it didn't change the terror Amy felt at the brink of death. If Hamilton hadn't come just in time to rescue her from the sharks, she might not be here at this moment, wandering mindlessly in the seemingly everlasting maze of corridors in the Kabra Estate.

Amy's thoughts were all jumbled up and hopelessly disorganized, just like Dan's stationery drawer. She was just thinking about the cold, staring amber eyes of Isabel Kabra and getting chills down her spine when she turned a millionth corner and crashed into someone. As they fell over onto the ground, Amy acted reflexively, just how she was taught to do in her trainings, and tried to roll over to the side in order to get a clear view of the person so she could counter attack (if it was an enemy), but they were so tangled up that it was done in vain. Amy and the mystery person collapsed onto the floor with an ungraceful thump, and she just thanked her ancestors that the floor was carpeted. She looked over to see who the person was, and her heart skipped a beat when she found herself in the arms of someone with the same eyes she was thinking about a moment ago, only much more softer and kinder looking.

"I… Ian?" Amy stammered in surprise.

"Amy?" Ian, looking bewildered as well, replied in his silky British accent Amy liked so much. "What are you doing here?"

"I… uh… I…" Amy blushed furiously. She hated herself for getting suddenly so tongue-tied. And in front of Ian, too! While Amy was busy trying to clear her dazed head, they both abruptly realized they weren't in a favorable position to talk. Ian and Amy simultaneously each moved their legs to stand up, but as they pulled away rather frantically from each other, Amy felt a sharp pull on her neck, and she couldn't move it away from Ian any further. They both looked down.

"Wait, Amy, let me," Ian said, before carefully untwining Grace's jade necklace from a button on his designer shirt. Amy marveled at his carefulness, and thanked him before explaining why she was here. When she was done, Ian looked like he was trying to suppress a laugh.

"You can laugh!" Amy retorted a little hotly, her cheeks a lovely shade of dark pink. "S-some of us aren't used to living in a p-palace every day."

Ian let out a chuckle. "I wouldn't put it like that, love, but I'll take you to the kitchen all the same. You could have always called for the butler if you wanted a drink, you know."

Amy looked confused. "How?"

"There's a bell by the door to call the servant's quarters," Ian replied in an obvious tone. "Surely you knew that? Or did I forget to mention it?"

"The latter," Amy informed him, then added as an afterthought, "and I d-doubt I would have used it even if I knew. I don't feel… c-comfortable with someone taking my orders."

"You could have made it a request, not an order, but I understand. You're quite near the kitchen, actually. It's straight down at the end of this corridor, love."

"Don't call me love," Amy replied automatically, much to Ian's amusement. "And w-what are YOU doing here anyways?"

Ian explained that he was on his way to collaborate with Chris about the agents he had found, showing Amy the list of people he'd printed out from the Lucian database. Amy felt more than a little disgruntled in hearing that. After the meeting last night, the ADULTS of the heads of houses split them up into boys and girls, and assigned the boys the task of checking the background and other information about the agents in their family branch to choose the ones to fight against the Vespers with them, while the girls were left to do extra research on the Vespers. It might have been for the best, as most of the heads of branches were men and therefore would know about the agents most, but Amy thought it was unfair, seeing that there was almost nothing they could find about the Vespers. The boys' task was obviously easier than the fruitless research Amy and Sinead had to do for the last five hours.

Ian watched Amy frown prettily. He simply couldn't take his eyes off her. Everything about her seemed radiant, from her gleaming jade eyes to her fiery locks of hair. He remembered himself not so long ago, when he believed his father was right about love being FLO. Vikram was so wrong. Liking someone, Ian felt as he trailed after Amy in a slightly slower pace, was quite a pleasant experience. Especially when that someone was Amy Cahill.

(Flashback)

After the meeting, Ian watched everyone file out one by one out of the arena, being escorted to their rooms by the butler. So much had happened in such a short period of time. He didn't show it, but inside he was overwhelmed by the abrupt turn of events. First, everyone was going crazy at the news that Isabel had escaped and bombarding him and his sister with not-so-very-polite accusations. Then he lost his temper. Natalie almost got herself killed, and the next thing he knew was that she had actually wrecked her dart gun with her own hands. That alone was quite a shock, because nobody knew more than Ian just how much Natalie adored her signature weapon. Suddenly, everyone was apologizing, and then after that, the adults were losing their heads without warning at the second piece of drastic news. Everything felt like it was a fast-forwarded scene in a movie. Ian shook his head. He definitely needed some time to clear his head up.

"Uh… Ian?" he heard a voice timidly call his name, and he snapped back into reality from his head amongst the clouds. He looked up, and Amy was standing next to him, looking a little disconcerted. Even as she bit her thumb she looked so pretty that his heart beat out of pace. For some unknown reason, although Ian had experienced dozens of attempts at flirting from tons of other women (who were sometimes so desperate it was almost pathetic), Amy was the only girl who could get that kind of reaction out of him.

Ian tried to look nonchalant as he answered, "Yes, Amy?"

Amy paused for a second worriedly, and then her words came out in a rush. "I… I just w-wanted to say that I'm really s-sorry for not believing you earlier," she apologized sincerely. Ian felt touched at her thoughtfulness. His parents had never cared for him half as much as Amy did. He smiled wearily and shook his head.

"No, it's okay, really. I understand. Actually, I just as well deserve it…" his voice trailed off, but thankfully, it looked like Amy didn't hear the last part. She just looked relieved, and gave him another quick, remorseful smile before following her brother out of the room. Ian watched her move further away until she was out of sight. He didn't notice that he and Natalie were now alone in the arena, and that his sister was watching him with great amusement.

"You do seem much happier now that Amy's around," Natalie casually commented, like she was talking about the weather. Ian just looked dazed, until his mind registered what his sister just said. His cheeks turned the slightest shade of red, but Natalie was no fool enough to miss that. She raised her eyebrows.

"It's not what you think, Natalie," Ian struggled to keep his voice calm. "I just like her as a friend, nothing more."

_Besides, I doubt she'd have any feelings for me after everything I did to her_, he added sadly in his mind. _She was just being the kind person she is._ But Natalie just waved her manicured fingers in the air.

"Well, like the peasants… I mean, everybody else says nowadays, _whatever,_" Natalie said distastefully, then scrutinized her brother up and down so that he felt a little uncomfortable before continuing. "I don't know if you were too immersed in Amy to notice, but I'VE observed that you express your emotions a lot more freely around her, in contrast to her absence. She definitely has a good influence on you, whether you're aware of it or not."

Ian opened his mouth to protest, and to tell Natalie to stop talking about him and Amy like subjects in a psychological experiment, but Natalie raised her hand, and spoke in a kinder voice. "I'm not saying I've got anything against her, Ian. I actually quite like her. She's very nice, and she also makes you happy. That's all, and it's about the only reason that's keeping me from shooting her annoying brother," Natalie emphasized the word _annoying_, pausing to catch a breath, and then continued with her lecture. "I don't care if you keep on denying you don't like her, because you and Amy are probably the only ones that don't realize what's going on between the two of you. I don't suppose it's as obvious to you two as it is to us, but to us, it looks like you clearly like each other. A lot. And this is coming from a person who aced all of the Lucian psychology tests, so you better believe it," she threatened.

Ian just stared at Natalie. It was one thing to hear a complaint about his affection to Amy from Dan, but another thing to listen to an APPROVAL for it from Natalie. She was rarely this directive in expressing anything besides her love for fashion… oh, and her deceased dart gun.

"Since when were you a matchmaker, Natalie?" Ian shook his head. As soon as he said that, Natalie's eyes shone.

"You just admitted you like Amy, you know?" she smirked triumphantly. Ian looked confused, then his eyes grew wider as he processed Natalie's trap. He mentally buried his face in his hands. His sister was getting much smarter for his liking. He should keep a closer eye on her from now on.

Natalie continued, raising her eyebrows. "But like I said, I already knew that. I just needed a straight out confession to prove it. Oh, and the answer to your question is: since now. I… I just want you to be happy, Ian," she said so wholeheartedly he didn't have it in him to retort back, and couldn't help but smile at his sister's kindness. Although her ways of expressing it could be more than annoying, but Ian knew she was looking out for him. That felt good to know.

They sat in grateful silence for a little while after that, until the butler returned to the arena after showing everyone to their rooms. Natalie showed him the shards, which was all that was left of the once-lethal weapon of hers, and ordered him to clean the mess up. Ian sighed as the whole incident regarding his sister and the gun replayed in his head, and looked at her with objecting eyes.

"You didn't have to do that for me, Natalie, you know," Ian chided his sister. "Do you have any idea how shocked I was? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Natalie looked at Ian indifferently, shrugging. "You know as well as I do that they wouldn't have believed us otherwise, Ian. I didn't have any other choice. I know I was betting on luck, but thank Gideon it all turned out okay. Although," she added wistfully, looking sadly at the remains of her destroyed dart gun, "I do think it was a great pity. It was such a good gun. And my shoes!" Natalie quickly slipped her feet out of her heels in horror, finally giving them her full attention, which were now thoroughly stained a hideous, blotchy blue. "It's ruined beyond repair! It was a limited edition! I can't believe I actually destroyed a piece of Gucci with my bare hands! I'll never forgive myself for this! You owe me a new pair of shoes, Ian, keep that in mind, because believe me when I say, I won't be forgetting it anytime soon."

Leave it to Natalie to mourn over her devastated shoes. I just threw away a couple hundred dollars, Ian thought, slightly miffed now. But it was definitely worth it- all of it. He only then realized how grateful he was to Natalie. He definitely had the best sister in the world. Ian fought the sudden urge to hug his sister. Hugging was For Losers Only, he told himself sternly, remembering his parents' coaching.

But then again, he mused, when had Vikram and Isabel ever been right in anything?

Ian hid a smile.

(End of flashback)

A sudden, horrible screeching filled Ian's ears, jolting him back to reality. His eyes were glassy, and he took a moment to figure out where he was. He was startled for a moment to find out that Amy wasn't with him, before catching a flash of her bright hair in the corner of the kitchen. It was only then he realized what that screaming was. Amy was trying to ask Ian's chef where the hot chocolate was kept, but he was too busy to listen, trying to save his beloved kitchen from the person who was making all the ear-splitting noise. Nellie Gomez's hair was a flying mix of pink, black, and yellow bobbing up and down, as she maniacally stirred together a variety of weird ingredients (Am I hallucinating, or was the stuff Nellie just poured in really labeled _Tranquilizer_? Ian thought in alarm) into one disgusting, gooey substance that didn't look at all appetizing. This alone was rendering the entire kitchen staff into chaos, and it didn't help in the least that Nellie was wailing at the top of her lungs, singing with her face contorted as if she was in tremendous pain, along to a song on her iPod.

"Hmm hmm…whoa ohhhhh… ARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Nellie shrieked. Ian automatically plugged his fingers in his ears along with the rest of the kitchen, as Amy dashed towards Nellie and snatched her iPod away. Nellie instantly broke off from her "singing" as the music disappeared, and looked at Amy and Ian in surprise, realizing for the first time that they were even there.

"Nellie! This isn't the time to be cooking food! You're supposed to be upstairs, researching about the Vespers!" Amy said, in an almost scolding tone. She looked at the thick paste that was now a luminescent light green with distaste, wrinkling her nose. "Although I have no idea what kind of food that's supposed to be."

Nellie looked at Amy strangely. "Who said I was cooking food? I'm making poison, kiddo," she said nonchalantly, flipping her multicolored bangs out of her eyes. "For the mission. Fiske set me to the job- apparently, the supply in the Kabra Estate just ran out. I know we can always order a new batch to arrive from South America," Nellie added quickly at Ian's questioning look, "but it'll take weeks, and we haven't got that much time. I'm improvising with the stuff we managed to get from Isabel's personal drug store." As if to prove her point, Nellie reached over to an immense stack of a variety of containers, picked up a tiny vial filled with black liquid and shook a few drops into the little pot on the stove. Its contents were bubbling lightly, with a smell that was too faint to discern hanging over it like a light fog. "Oh, by the way, what are YOU two doing here? I thought you guys were assigned separate tasks." She raised her eyebrows, looking from Amy to Ian, then back at Amy, the corners of her lips slowly curling upward in assumption.

"It's… it's n-not what you th-think!" Amy blushed furiously, glancing at Ian, her stutter returning in a feeble attempt to protest. "I… I was on my way to the kitchen to get a drink, but I got l-lost! It was just a l-lucky coincidence that we even m-met!"

"I didn't say anything, Amy," Nellie said innocently, her grin growing wider as she turned back to the poison. It was now spewing bubbles and brimming over the rim of the pot, so she quickly turned off the stove and placed it on the cabinet beside her. The head chef whimpered at Nellie's handiwork on the kitchen counter, which was now stained with blotches of green. Ian mentally made a note to change all the stained kitchen furniture as soon as possible, as well as all the ruined pots and pans, before anybody made the foolish mistake of cooking something with it and getting poisoned.

Amy apologized to the chef for Nellie, who accepted it graciously, but he was still sweating and keeping a cautious eye on the back of Nellie's head by the time Amy finally managed to get the drink she was there for. She let out a sigh of relief when she and Ian escaped the kitchen. The brief pandemonium had completely unnerved her, and the pain in her head was worse than ever. She took a long drink out of her mug, the creamy sweetness of the hot chocolate soothing her insides a little bit.

Ian watched Amy bite her lip. She was clearly uncomfortable about something, but what was it? Normally, he could sense just about everything someone was feeling through their facial expressions, but that didn't seem to apply to Amy. Everything about her seemed to distract him- her pretty jade eyes, the way her hair gleamed crimson in the light, the curve of her lips as she smiled… and not to mention her adorable stutter. Wait, I did NOT just think that, Ian thought as he felt his cheeks go hot a little, and he turned his face around so that Amy did not see him blush. When he shifted back to Amy again, she still looked distressed, but Ian suddenly had an idea to cheer her up a little. He prayed this would work.

"If you're having trouble looking up the Vespers on the online database, why don't you take a try offline? The library of the Estate has a whole section dedicated to Cahill history- hidden, of course, and most of them have not yet been looked through. There might be something there," he said casually. His assumptions were right, and his heart thumped in delight as he watched Amy glow radiantly the moment he mentioned the word _library_. She looked completely thrilled about the fact of looking through historical documents, especially ones that had yet to be read through.

"Yes, please," she replied eagerly, but then her bright smile faltered a little as she realized she had no idea how to get there. "Um… if it isn't too much trouble, can you s-show me the way? I mean, if you aren't terribly busy," she said, eyeing the papers in his hand.

Ian shook his head. "No problem. It's not that far, anyway. I'm sure Chris can wait a few more minutes..." he trailed off, leading the way.

"You should p-put some f-floor plans around," she joked. "Visitors might get l-lost and starve."

Ian frowned. "Actually, maybe I should," he considered. Amy was one of the Madrigal branch's greatest navigators. If she had gotten lost on her way to the kitchen, there was no telling where others, such as the Holts, for example, might end up. And he didn't want to waste his time rescuing stranded visitors when he could be spending them with Amy, just like now.

When they reached the library in the South Wing, Amy gasped in amazement. The library here was the biggest she had ever seen. There were large couches and reading chairs everywhere, and the library was illuminated with the warm, golden light of the noon sun streaming inside from the wide windows. But the sight that made Amy want to drool over the most were the seemingly endless rows and rows of books. Amy suppressed the urge to run over to the nearest shelf and start reading. She was here for research, NOT free time. She reluctantly followed Ian down the aisle, trying her best to control her mind, but she simply couldn't help gazing hungrily when they passed the section stored with hundreds of Shakespearean literary works. She sighed longingly. Amy swore to herself that she'd get her hands on them someday, if they ever managed to survive the Vespers. She forced herself to trudge grudgingly along.

It seemed like forever, but they somehow made it to the end of the library. Amy marveled again at the size of the place, forgetting Ian for the moment, who walked up to the last row of shelves and pressed a few books on the spine. She was taken aback when the whole wall swung open, leading down to a secret chamber. Ian gestured politely.

"Ladies first," he said, and Amy let herself be ushered down into the depths of the library. She glanced back as the wall shut closed behind her. As she was about to turn her gaze forward, she caught a sudden movement out of the corner of her eye. Amy swiveled back on her feet, but there was nothing there except for a confused Ian.

"What's wrong?" he asked in an urgent tone, at Amy's tensed expression. Amy wordlessly stared at the way they came through. Since they were now underground, it was only so far the dim light could reach, so she couldn't see anything but Ian and the darkness behind. She squinted at the spot she thought she had seen the movement, then slowly relaxed. She was probably overreacting- all the stress was getting to her. _Calm down, Amy,_ she thought to herself, and gave Ian a reassuring smile.

"It's nothing," she said, looking one last time at the empty murkiness before turning back around and making her way. A few light bulbs lighted the way down the stairs before they reached a second door. Ian pulled out a tiny silver key, inserted it into the keyhole, and turned the doorknob.

Amy was completely wowed for the second time. This library was much bigger than the one upstairs. The setting queerly reminded her of Grace's secret library at her mansion before it burned down in the Clue hunt, and also Alistair's cave of Ekat documents in Korea. The scent of old books tickled her nose and she practically flew to the shelves and picked up the nearest document cautiously, taking care not to damage it. It was old and yellow, but she could still make out the words on it, faded brown and written in a sharp, precise handwriting. Benjamin Franklin, she realized.

Ian watched with a small pride as Amy scanned one document after another, totally immersed. She looked truly lovely when she did that. Lovely… it was the word that had started it all. Ian gave a small smile as he checked his watch, and sighed. He couldn't keep Chris waiting any longer.

"I have to be going now. I'll be back after an hour or so to pick you up, love," he called back over his shoulder. Amy nodded briskly, busy devouring the contents of another document, this one by Napoleon, he recognized. Ian smiled secretly once more, before making his way out of the hidden library and up the stairs. He pressed the remote and the wall slowly opened again, when he heard something that made his blood freeze.

The most bloodcurdling scream he had ever heard in his life (and he had heard quite a few) echoed from down below, with a following crash of shattering porcelain._ Amy,_ he instantly thought, and his heart pounded, threatening to burst out of his rib cage. "Amy!" he yelled as he dashed down the stairs. "Amy! Are you okay? Amy! _AMY!"_

He rushed back into the secret library, and desperately searched between each row of shelves, all the while screaming Amy's name. When had she gone so far in? Ian tore across the room, finally reaching the spot where he had left Amy. His heart froze.

The remains of what was once Amy's mug had scattered all over the floor, the pink porcelain shards stained a murky brown with what was left of the hot chocolate. In the middle of all the mess, resting on top of a soggy, hot-chocolate-soiled patch of carpet, was a small piece of paper with a single letter scrawled across it in sinister gray ink.

The letter V.

As his legs gave away in shock and despair, Ian failed to notice a shadow creeping across the library toward the door that he had accidentally left open. The mystery person reached the top of the staircase with strange speed and agility. Seemingly satisfied with his work, he leisurely walked out of the library with a swish of his own gray cloak and a flash of crimson hair from the unconscious body he was carrying; his most recent prize. Beneath the hood that covered most of his face, he allowed himself a concealed, triumphant smile.

Lady Isabel would be very pleased.

* * *

Don't forget to R&R, please! I promise I'll be back as soon as I can!


	4. Secrets

I'm so sorry I took so long in updating! I was having a major writer's block, AND lots of stuff to do...

Well, enough with the excuses! I've returned with an extra long chapter, and I'll try to update as soon as possible, although I can't say exactly when, because school starts back up next week! *sigh*

Don't forget to R&R after reading! Maybe if I get super encouraged, I won't keep you waiting!

Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues.

Enjoy!

* * *

One very important part of training in becoming a ninja lord was to grow an endless supply of patience. Ancient Japanese samurais would sit and meditate for weeks, months, or even years on end on the highest of plateaus and mountains, whether it was raining or snowing or kicking up a storm, living on nothing but the morning dew. Or so Dan Cahill thought.

But he seriously doubted that the ninjas would have continued to follow their daily routine and act like nothing had happened if their own sisters had been kidnapped, right under their noses.

Okay, so maybe he was overly exaggerating. Of course they weren't acting like nothing had happened. Just a few hours ago that seemed like, well, forever, Dan and Hamilton were printing out the list of agents Eisenhower and Fiske had found in both the Tomas and Madrigal branches, wondering about lunch (and completely ignorant about the fact that Nellie had ruined the kitchen) when Ian staggered up on them, looking half-crazed. His eyes were so wide and in panic, and the first time seeing a Kabra so out of poise had freaked Dan out.

Until he heard the dreaded news.

First, Dan thought Ian was joking. Saying stuff like that to him and then secretly taping his whole reaction seemed like something Natalie Cobra would do for blackmail material. But then it struck him that although his family may be totally paranoid, they wouldn't be crazy enough to joke around at a time like this. The Vespers were back.

And they had taken Amy.

Everybody had totally flipped. Dan had never seen anyone as angry as Fiske had been when the word was brought to him. The whole family had done nothing but work for the rest of the day, the adults hanging on the phones, answering or calling every five seconds, and the kids staring and clicking on the computer screens, pulling up lists and lists of agents and emergency contacts within each respective branch, until their retinas burned and their fingers were stiff. Ian had personally fired the entire security team of the estate, and had conjured up what seemed like a whole army of Lucian agents to guard the Kabra mansion 24/7, at least until they moved out to a safer place. Now that the Kabra Estate was proven infiltrated by the enemy, the adults had come to the conclusion that they had to take refuge in another stronghold. Eisenhower was all for moving cross-country, worrying that his kids were next, but they had to consider the possibility that the Vesper headquarters was somewhere around the Kabra Estate. Even Isabel Kabra couldn't move five meters unnoticed in the open without getting caught under the Cahill radar (each branch had their own precautions, whether through satellites or surveillance cameras or even more agents under disguise, monitoring each corner of the globe), let alone drag the successor of the Madrigal branch with her. So Fiske had decided to stay put for a while and try to figure out the whereabouts of any Vesper gatherings.

Their dinner had literally lasted for about thirty seconds, nobody taking more than a couple bites of the mashed potatoes and gravy, or the roast lamb. It was probably due to the fact that Dan's stomach was too full of worry to have room for anything else, that his share of the traditional British meal (which tasted bad enough, courtesy of the ruined kitchen) ended up joining everyone else's in the brimming trash can. It wasn't until midnight that anybody went to bed, and it was around three in the morning when the last of the lights were finally turned off.

Dan checked his watch. It was half past four. The Kabra Estate was so silent he could hear Hamilton snoring from the other end of the corridor. His body was begging for sleep- he had never felt so exhausted- yet his eyes refused to close. His mind was wide awake and totally on edge, a million different thoughts whizzing through his brain. Where was Amy? What would happen now? Who was next, now that Amy was under hostage of the enemy? What would the Vespers- Isabel Kabra- do to Amy? Would they torture her? Dan winced at the dozens of memories invading his head- the time when Isabel almost fed Amy to the sharks, threw spiders and snakes on them, set fire to the house they were staying in Indonesia, almost slicing his head off with a helicopter blade, very nearly killing them all in the gauntlet... He shuddered. Would Isabel let Amy live? Would Amy even survive?

Would any of them survive?

Dan turned in his bed, dragging his pristine covers across to one side. The sound made Saladin, sleeping on the floor beside him, bristle for a second, then relax. Dan sighed. Even the sight of his feline companion didn't seem to help him loosen up. Out of all the crazy jumble of thoughts, the thing that bugged him the most was the fact that there was nothing he could actually do to save his sister. As much as he wanted to help her, there wasn't any way of knowing where she was- and even if he managed to miraculously find out, how would he be able to fight off the entire Vesper guard? He probably couldn't even stand ONE! And what if he came face-to-face with Isabel Kabra herself? What would he do then?

_At least I'd feel better if any of the OTHERS were taking some real action, _Dan thought bitterly, gnashing his teeth together. Yeah, sure, he knew everybody else were trying their best too. He knew way too well that Fiske and Nellie would stop at nothing to get Amy back, given the chance. And he also knew that they were just as agitated as he was at their powerless situation. But this didn't change the way he felt- if anything, it made him feel worse.

_If only there were something I could do..._

Dan reached down and stroked Saladin between the ears absentmindedly, staring off into the distance, when suddenly Saladin jerked his head upwards. Dan sat up at once, alert, as he watched the Egyptian Mau's glowing green eyes pierce the darkness. With a little "Mrrp!", Saladin gracefully leaped toward the door and cocked his head, turning to look at Dan. Dan made his way to the foot of his bed as silently as he could, wondering what on the other side of the door could have aroused Saladin. Dan's experiences both on the Clue Hunt and his trainings that followed completely guaranteed the cat's sharp, reliable senses, which Dan came to trust with utter surety. Straining his ears a little, he could hear soft but definite footsteps that were muffled by the carpet in the corridor, making its way toward his room. His heart jolted in nervousness. What if it was a Vesper, coming for him? Quietly slipping on his shoes, Dan reached out for his pocket knife in his jacket thrown carelessly over the back of his chair. Unfortunately, his fancy Madrigal gadgets were all either stashed in the bed stand drawer or inside his backpack, and couldn't be accessed without noise. One weapon, no matter how small, was better than nothing, Dan decided. It wasn't worth the risk, alerting whoever it was outside that he was awake- especially when he didn't know who it was. _Maybe it was one of the Holts, getting a midnight snack or something,_ Dan reasoned. After all, they hadn't eaten anything much, all day. Or the Starlings or Jonah... but then it struck him that his door was at the dead end of the corridor, therefore not much use to anybody craving for snacks of any kind, and that the footsteps were slowly but surely advancing towards him.

"Get under the bed, Saladin, and don't come out until I tell you to," Dan whispered to the cat. Saladin obediently pounced under the bed, and Dan smothered the light from his bright eyes by pulling the sheet over him. Holding his breath, he made his way toward the door, making sure it was locked, before standing as still as he could. The footsteps got slightly louder as it got closer, and by the light of the moon shining outside his half-curtained window, he saw a tall shadow darkening the small gap between the door and the floor outside. The footsteps halted and the shadow didn't move, but Dan saw the doorknob turning a little. Anxiously, he watched it rotating slowly as if all by itself, then with a small click, stopped and refused to budge, signaling the door was locked. Dan heard the mystery person sigh a little in frustration- why did it sound so familiar?- and then a soft tapping sound was heard on the smooth mahogany door. Dan knitted his eyebrows in confusion. Was it a common custom for a Vesper to knock, asking permission for entry, before kidnapping him to who knew where? But the shadow seemed familiar. The figure was way too slim to be Hamilton, and an inch or two too short to be Ned or Ted. And it definitely wasn't Jonah- the person stood way too straight, lacking the hip-hop swagger of the international rapping superstar. Nor was it any of the adults. But it wasn't a girl, either... then, who?

Preparing himself to shout for help if necessary, Dan took a deep breath and answered.

"Who is it?" he called out softly, his hand tightening its grip around the pocket knife as his entire body tensed, waiting for the response.

"Daniel, it's Ian. We need to talk."

* * *

Ian's patience was starting to hit bottom. He had explained his plan three times in a row already, yet this poor excuse for a Madrigal looked as confused as he did from the beginning, clad from head to toe in black ninja pajamas, his green eyes still wide and disbelieving, looking at Ian as if he were crazy. If it weren't for the fact that he was Amy's brother, Ian would have left him snoring ages ago with a tranquilizer dart sticking out the side of his neck. Sometimes (as in, right now) he felt a strange urge to do a DNA check to see if Amy and Dan were really related. _NOW I see what Natalie was going on about, _Ian mused, in mute disgruntlement.

"So, what, like, you're ASKING me to go with you?" Dan asked incredulously, for exactly the eleventh time, as far as Ian had been counting. "To rescue Amy? From the Vespers?"

"Yes, Daniel," Ian replied, gritting his teeth.

"How? I mean, you don't even know where she is!" said Dan, still muddled so much that he let the snide "Daniel" comment go amiss. "And even if by some crazy high-tech Lucian miracle you manage to find THAT out, how are you going to get her out? You have a teleporter in hand or something?"

"What have you been doing for the last half hour?" Ian scoffed, his British accent becoming more and more defined as his voice heated up in exasperation, his patience lost. "I suppose your head is too full of those pathetic television whatnots you call _video games_, than to actually interpret what I've been telling you for the fourth time, now! I know a way to rescue your sister, and I need you to help me do it! Time is scarce, and we've already wasted what little we have left just to get you to understand the whole plan! And you still haven't got it! Or is your sister's safety the least of your priorities? I-"

"Don't," Dan cut Ian off, springing up from his bed, looking straight into Ian's blazing amber eyes. "Don't you EVER say I don't care about my sister!" he almost spat the words at Ian, his suppressed vexation spilling over the top at Ian's mention of his sister. "Don't you THINK that's why I've been staying up all night, wondering how to get her out? Yeah, I like video games, I worship ninjas, but I care about my FAMILY way more than any of those things! I want my sister to be safe! And Fiske! And Nellie! I miss my parents, who I never got the chance to get to know better, but who I know were WAY better people than your parents ever were-" Dan abruptly stopped at Ian's suddenly ferocious look at the mention of Isabel and Vikram, and realized his mistake. Awkward silence fell between the two, Dan looking regretfully at his toes, and Ian clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Hey, uh... sorry," Dan said after a short while, in a small voice. "Look, I- I didn't mean to go that far-"

"No, it's nothing... it's true anyway," Ian tried to compose his face, but his voice came out a little too hard to disguise the pain underneath. "Anyway, we don't have time to dwell on the unchangeable past. We have to deal with the present, and if we don't put my plan into action, as in NOW, we might lose the one good chance of rescuing Amy." _I... I care about her too, _Ian added silently in his head, before continuing. "This is the last time I'm going to say this, Dan, so PLEASE pay attention this time." Ian raised his eyebrows at Dan, who looked at him resentfully.

"I've been _trying_ to make sense of your scientific mumbo jumbo from the start-"

"I know where Amy is," Ian interrupted.

Dan blinked. "Uh, what?"

"I know where Amy is," Ian repeated.

Dan shook his head slowly. "You've lost me."

"Amy never goes anywhere without Grace's necklace, I've noticed," Ian explained. "Please believe me when I say I didn't have any purpose whatsoever other than the sole reason to be able to keep her safe when I took the liberty of planting a tracking device on its pendant."

Dan gaped, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. "A what?"

"A microscopic tracking device, wedged into the center of the jade dragon's eye," Ian said. "It's designed for concealment, so no matter how developed the Vesper technology is, it will be quite difficult to be able to detect it. She was wearing the necklace when she was kidnapped. Unless they removed her necklace after the kidnapping, her whereabouts won't be too hard to locate. Besides, we all saw the images on the cameras. Our friend the kidnapper wasn't that careful in hiding himself from security. It only took a bit of work to check the surveillance cameras all over London, and even less effort to follow his route according to where he was sighted. It all points to one area."

At Dan's continuous bewildered stare, Ian's face stretched into a small smirk, the old Kabra sneer barely detectable- a shadow from the memories of the Clue Hunt. "The Ekats aren't the only ones with high-tech locative devices. We Lucians have our share, too. As for the tracking device I planted on Amy, I borrowed her necklace during the first Cahill annual reunion, the year after the hunt. That's when I performed the installation."

"And Amy never knew?" Dan frowned, still surprised.

"No. I didn't think she'd let me if she did, in case the necklace became damaged. I only told her I wanted to see one of the four keys that unlocked Madeleine Cahill's box."

"The Möbius Strip," Dan's mouth pursed in recognition, remembering the seemingly impossible test he, Amy, and Nellie had to undergo in order to gain the official Madrigal status.

Ian nodded. "I was the only one who knew about it. Not even Natalie does."

Dan's eyes narrowed. "That's going way overboard!" he complained. "It's already annoying to know my sister's infatuated with a Cobra- but it's a whole other thing to realize that that overprotective Cobra has been monitoring her 24/7. I could totally sue you for that. Talk about high-tech stalking!"

Ian's face flushed ever so slightly, unnoticeable in the dark. "It wasn't stalking," he said defensively. "It was just..." he trailed off, having run out of plausible excuses. It was Dan's turn to smirk.

"Yeah, yeah." Dan rolled his eyes, his grin broadening at the sight of Ian Kabra at a loss for words. "Well, enough about your obsession with MY sister. Where is she, then?'

"Fiske was right. A Vesper organization is in refuge quite nearby, and if Amy's still wearing the necklace, that's where she is. The coordinates point toward Stonehenge."

Dan gawked. "Stonehenge? You mean, those huge slabs of rock that the aliens built some fifty thousand years ago?"

Ian looked disgusted. "Please show some respect for a monument of my native country, Daniel. It is a great historical relic from between 3000 and 2000 B.C., and shows that cremation existed even in the prehistoric times, in England. To think that Vespers have raided it..." His face contorted into an expression of strong distaste.

"Cool! So it's like, a giant gravesite or something? Do we get to dig something up?" Dan's eyes shone, excitement building up, then suddenly turned into a face of horror. "What if..."

Ian swallowed, reading Dan's expression. He had already contemplated that possibility, but refused to believe it. After all, the coordinates showed constant movements. "No, Dan. I doubt the Vespers have any intention to turn Stonehenge into a Madrigal cemetery anytime soon. Amy is a valuable hostage to them. Besides, her location changes from time to time."

Dan bit his lip. "So now what? We know where she is. How the heck are we going to break her out of jail, then? It's more likely we get caught. Wait- have you told any of the others yet?"

Ian shook his head. "No. If we do, Fiske won't let us go. He'll say that we need time to devise another plan. That's just the problem with all the adults! They work for the 'greater good,' and they won't put everyone's life at stake just to rescue one person, even if that person is the successor for the Madrigal branch AND his niece to boot!"

"Dude, YOU come of age in less than a year," Dan pointed out.

"That's beside the point! If we tell them, they'll waste time to take action. We have to move as fast as possible! Who knows what they're doing to Amy now? They might pick up and move headquarters! They could send her to, oh I don't know, who knows if they have a stronghold in Antarctica or something? We've got to move NOW, Dan, you and I! That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past half hour!"

"It's... I don't know, it's so unlike you. Aren't Lucians supposed to be the cunning guys, always with a plan in hand? It's kind of suspicious you're acting so rashly. How do I know I can trust you?" Dan said, suddenly on guard. "After all, it IS your mother who escaped, and who turned out to be a Vesper. Right after she disappears, Amy gets kidnapped. And now I'm supposed to pick up my heels and follow you out the front door just because you come up with some impossible plan to save her?" Dan scrutinized Ian up and down, his eyes slits. "No way, dude. Nuh-uh. No offense, Ian, but you're acting really strange. I mean, how can I be sure I can trust you? For all I know, Natalie is standing right outside that door, waiting to blow my head off the first chance she gets."

"No, she isn't," Ian stood up and opened the door wide, and showed Dan the corridor was empty. "And we're not going out the front door. Do you really think I'm such an amateur? Of course I have a route planned out. Okay, well, to be honest, I haven't got a complete plan. I don't even know what to do when we get there. Hopefully it'll become clearer once we get to Stonehenge and investigate the area. It's better than sitting here, doing nothing but twiddling our thumbs and waiting for, what, the Vespers to mail Amy back to the Kabra Estate? I thought that's what you wanted to do! Actually do something, anything but wait!"

"How do I know you're not one of them? You just turned out to be half Vesper! I know, I know, you've changed! You proved that in the arena. But you have to understand- one thing I learned since the hunt besides the existence of Mozart and Nannerl and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, is to _trust no one._ And the fact that you're cajoling me in complete secrecy just makes me even more-"

"We won't be able to hide the fact that we've gone to rescue Amy once we disappear," Ian said quickly. "So I've prepared a full explanation in this USB." Ian held up a small black object. Dan recognized the Lucian crest, gleaming a slight red at the center. "It shows how I planted a tracking device in Amy's necklace, as well as Amy's whereabouts every five minutes. Also, I've been recording the entire conversation between you and me here," Ian held up the USB and pressed the Lucian mark. Dan's eyes widened slightly as Ian's voice came out of the small device, (_"Daniel, it's Ian. We need to talk."_) from the very beginning. "They'll find out what we've gone to do, but by then it'll be too late to stop us. They'll be able to devise the plan to raid the Vespers, or whatever it is they want once the agents start arriving tomorrow, while part of us work on rescuing Amy. As you people say, simple enough."

Dan thought it through for a moment, trying to see if there was a loophole in Ian's words, if there was a trap lurking beneath. He knew he wasn't the best at sniffing out hidden purposes, especially when he was dealing with a Lucian, the stealthiest of the lot. But as far as he could see, it WAS simple enough. He saw none.

"Clever," Dan approved after a short moment of ponder. "But how are you going to give it to them? Leave it here? You could have anyone remove it as soon as we leave. Or-" Dan paused, an idea forming in his head. "Hey Ian, give me that USB for a sec."

Confused, Ian handed Dan the USB. Dan crouched down and pulled back the bed covers he was sitting on, and revealed two bright green orbs of light. Ian took an involuntary step back, startled.

"Saladin, you can come out now,," Dan coaxed. The Egyptian Mau sprang out into Dan's arms, stretching.

"Mrrp," Saladin shot Dan an annoyed look that clearly said, _you could have called me out earlier. Do you have any idea how cramped it was in there?_

"Sorry, buddy," Dan apologized, as he removed Saladin's collar. Looping it, he hung the USB, and fastened it back on the Mau's neck, adjusting it so it was clearly visible against the cat's beautiful spotted fur. Ian looked impressed.

"That's clever," said Ian, marveling at how this simple idea of Dan's immediately guaranteed protection from Natalie, at the least, considering her feline allergy. That is, IF he was planning sabotage. He was just secretly glad he didn't have to worry anymore about Natalie getting wrongly blamed for any suspicions that might arise from their heist. Dan grinned.

"So, are you in?" Ian asked hopefully.

Dan pursed his lips. He wasn't completely sure if trusting Ian was a safe move. He was pretty sure Ian was telling the truth, and he had just taken precaution in case it turned out to be a lie, but Natalie wasn't Ian's only ally in the place. He barely knew Chris, either. They could all be revealed to become double crossers, spies for the Vespers. After all, Ian was the only one there when Amy disappeared. He could have done the kidnapping himself, then forged the images on the security cameras, which would be a piece of cake for him. In which case, the smart thing to do was karate chop Ian in the face and run out the door, straight to Uncle Fiske and the others.

But in a way, he knew Ian was right. Fiske would never let him go. Nellie would kill him before he'd taken half a step out of the estate. And they didn't know what was happening to Amy. She could be shipped out of the country anytime. And worse, the possibility that Amy was under custody of Isabel was undeniable. She could be facing terrors beyond imagination right now, and they all knew- or rather, didn't know- what Isabel was capable of. Face to face, Amy didn't stand a chance. None of them did.

If he followed Ian, there was high chance he'd never make it back alive, whether or not he was telling the truth.

But at the same time, this could be the one chance that they could save Amy. If that feat was accomplished, risking his own neck would be totally worthwhile. Even though Amy would probably kill him afterwards, saying he was reckless coming after her, Ian's proposition also provided a great opportunity to prove himself- ironically, his first unofficial mission as an official Madrigal agent. He couldn't deny it was hard to resist the tempt of adventure. Although his sister would call it "a dweebish nature to go chasing after unnecessary danger," would it really be dweebish and unnecessary if it all turned out to be okay? However dangerous Dan knew it might be, Ian made it sound so simple. So easy.

If trusting Ian could get Amy back, there was no other option.

What choice did he have?

Dan looked up, and shook Ian's outstretched hand.

"I'm in."

* * *

Unbeknownst to everyone else, there was one more person in the mansion who was alert and active. Fiske Cahill was alone in the underground arena, solely managing six different computers at once, perfecting the list of agents. For the whole day, the heads of each branch had made calls to first-class Cahill agents all around the world, and by tomorrow the Kabra Estate would be housing dozens more than present. Not that the house was too small- in contrary, it could probably house them all and still have room left for more.

The Amy incident had got him worrying. Of course, Ian had already informed them of supposed Vesper activity growing, but until then, it was an unconfirmed rumor. Fiske had hoped they would turn out to be false, but the kidnapping of his niece had proved it- Isabel's escape had triggered the Vespers into action.

There were so much unanswered questions. What power did Isabel have within the Vesper ranks? Did the Vespers hold responsibility for her impossible escape? What other sinister miracles were they capable of? How much had they grown in power over the last 500 years of absence?

Most important yet, _what was their purpose?_

Could Gideon Cahill really have discovered, minutes before he died, the secret to immortality? Were the Vespers after something that could change the entire world? The fate of humanity? Fiske massaged his temples, his mind flooding with inquiries. The more he thought about it, the more mysteries Isabel's escape revealed. He sighed. The questions would have to wait until their allies arrived- perhaps together, they could work something out.

Creasing his forehead, Fiske headed over to the leftmost computer. Most of the agents were successfully contacted, using high-tech devices from each of the five branches. Fiske had to admit this business was tiring after exactly two hundred and sixty-seven attempts at reaching a Madrigal top agent whose body was halfway jammed between a crocodile's jaws in the Amazon. But they'd all succeeded in informing everybody about Isabel, the Vespers, and Amy in the end. They'd all be arriving in either private planes, copters, jet skis, or submarines to the mansion here in London by tomorrow evening at the latest- as long as they weren't unexpectedly tied up in a life-threatening situation, like that poor Madrigal agent.

All except seven, that is.

Fiske stared at the screen. Five out of the seven were the very people who had designed the security program for Isabel's confinement. After quite a few tries at contact and a bit of research, both the Ekat and Janus agent turned out to be dead- both officially reported as natural deaths, but Fiske wasn't so sure about that. They weren't that old or suffering from a known disease, but had both died within six months of Isabel's trial, and at such similar time periods, that Fiske strongly suspected the deaths were intentional, induced by an outsider. The agent for the Madrigal branch had been openly assassinated two years ago, a case that was left unsolved. The Tomas agent had gone missing on a secret mission last year. He had left for South Africa, and hadn't returned since.

The Lucian agent was the only one still alive.

Fiske had tried to contact him numerous times, to no avail. Although his status still labeled him as active, he was nowhere to be found. After a thorough investigation that involved hacking into the Lucian archives, Fiske discovered that all of the agent's previous records regarding his identity and missions had been deleted. Completely removed from the database. The only traces left of him was his repeated code name- Blaise.

It was as if he had never existed.

Although this matter had been long debated upon between the heads of the branches that day, surprisingly it wasn't the biggest of their concerns. The mouse cursor hovered upon the last two names of the list of seven. Fiske took a split second of deliberation before clicking on the first name, Frank Johnson. The agent profile page popped up, which was so empty one would have thought it was a blank screen save the few lines written at the top.

_Frank Jaundace Johnson, _it read, in bold capital letters. Below it was the agent's date of birth, death, nationality, agent ranking status, and family relations. The words _"Assassinated with wife while performing unknown mission- South Africa" _were closed in brackets beside the date of death.

There was no picture.

Fiske stared at the short passage regarding Frank Johnson's family relations. Needless to say, this was the most intriguing thing so far the research of the agents had brought up. It had stirred up quite a commotion between the heads of the Cahill branches, and had been the subject which was most discussed upon. The discussion hadn't been successful, yet Fiske had a feeling the dispute wasn't quite over yet.

_Family relations: Frank Jaundace Johnson (Rank Alpha+), Cahill ancestral bloodline- half Lucian, quarter Tomas, quarter Madrigal. Now deceased. Married to Brianna Alyssa Harper-Johnson (Rank Alpha+), Cahill ancestral bloodline- half Ekaterina, half Janus. Now deceased. Twin son and daughter- Austin Lysander Johnson and Sophie Brianna Johnson, quarter Lucian, quarter Ekaterina, quarter Janus, one-eighth Tomas, one-eighth Madrigal. Whereabouts unknown, last seen in South Africa with parents._

Below the passage was one single line- _Both children lost soon after parents' murder._

Fiske's eyes bored into the bright computer screen intently, not blinking once. Although he was so still he might have been mistaken for a statue from a distance, his brain was working the speed of light. He had known Frank and Brianna. They were two of the very few people he and Grace had personally monitored secretly, along with Hope and Arthur. However, Grace had been more focused on developing her beloved daughter and son-in-law than the Johnsons- so naturally, Fiske had taken charge of the neglected pair. The news of Frank and Brianna's marriage, soon followed by the conceiving of their twin son and daughter, had aroused huge interests within the Madrigal branch. Even though the Cahill family had widely dispensed beyond imagination throughout history, it was still a rare happening for anyone to have been born a member of more than two branches. Yet not only both Frank and Brianna had been part of multiple branches, they were part of _different _ones! When word of their children's birth reached the Madrigals, everybody had been excited of the potential of the Johnson twins. The fact that the children had the power of the 39 clues- Gideon's finished serum- flowing in their veins, being part of every branch, as well as being the children of the two most skilled Cahill agents ever, was a prospect that could lead to unimaginable, maybe even devastating consequences. The Madrigals had given the Johnson family every possible attention they could, monitoring the children's growth as closely as technology would allow. Perhaps in due time, with the right training and guidance, the twins would be able to achieve the Madrigals' ultimate goal- the reunion of the Cahill family. Weren't they already a living example, a symbol of success, that the five branches could become one again? Much hope and expectation was laid upon the two infants' fragile shoulders, from before they were even born.

Until the unexpected death of Frank and Brianna Johnson.

The Madrigals had been thrown into chaos. Their first move had been to place the Johnson twins under their care, in case the perpetrators turned their attention to the children after finishing off their parents. However, the news that came back was dismaying. The twins had disappeared almost simultaneously with the death of Frank and Brianna. Whether it was an attempt to protect them by their parents, or acted by the ones responsible for the murders, it was never revealed, and all traces of young Sophie and Austin Johnson was lost since then.

Thankfully, the Madrigals still managed to achieve their goal through Amy and Dan, but nobody but Fiske and a few other top Madrigal agents knew the truth behind the result of the clue hunt- that its champion could have been not the Cahill children, but the Johnson twins.

Fiske sighed. The Johnson case was Fiske's first task failed. One of the main reasons why he chose to disappear and live in hiding.

_If I only knew where the twins were now._

Mesmerized in his memories, Fiske's ears were oblivious to the muted sound of a propeller revolving from somewhere high above.

A propeller, in fact, which happened to belong to a copter that was slowly making its way west, darkly silhouetted against the dawning London sky, maneuvered by a certain amber-eyed young man and his companion, bright jade eyes radiating determination.

The chase was on.


	5. Isabel

I told you I wouldn't keep you waiting!

Thanks for the amazing new reviews and PM's! *beams* You guys have no idea how grateful I am :)

Oh, just so you know, I make constant changes in previous chapters from time to time. Don't worry- they're nothing big enough to affect the main plot, but you might want to look back once in a while, if you feel something is out of place with the story. Plus, I take ALL of the CC's into account, so if you find any errors, please don't pause to let me know!

Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues... *sob*

* * *

Amy Cahill knew she was dead.

Otherwise, why would she be floating?

But she had no idea death would feel this... well, weird. Come to think of it, it wasn't just one thing that was bothering her. She had a vicious headache, to start with. She felt nauseous, like she had just gotten off a lifeboat after a tsunami or something. And there was a faint smell in the air, thick and slightly uncomfortable, that seemed to numb her senses and fog up her brain, making it hard to think _anything_ through clearly.

Oh, and her wrists hurt.

Unintentionally, a little groan of discomfort escaped between her lips. She was startled at the fact that she could actually hear her own voice, dim but definite. Was it just her, or did her moan seem magnified, the sound waves rebounding from walls she couldn't see?

_Cool, I can still talk when I'm dead... who knew? _

As she lay still, she became aware of the fact that the mist in her head seemed to be clearing, her senses sharpening. She realized that she wasn't floating at all, but sustained by what seemed to be some kind of chair, only it was bent backwards, like she was halfway between lying horizontally and sitting upright. It kind of reminded her of those surgery chairs often found at the dentist's, only something cold and hard was digging into her palms.

_Did I die during a dental operation? _Amy wondered. _But then why hasn't anyone noticed yet? _

As if to prove her thought wrong, Amy heard a sudden voice, high-pitched and sort of familiar but not entirely recognizable, slicing through the heavy silence like it was a block of Swiss cheese. "Mother, I think she's awake!"

_Natalie?_

"About time! And must I remind you yet again NOT to call me _mother?_ I already feel old enough from that_ pathetic_ hole of a Cahill prison."

"I- I beg your pardon, Lady Isabel."

Only the shock of hearing the voice from her worst nightmares, still very perceptible even in her state, could have wrenched Amy back to reality. She seemed to warp into a different dimension as her eyes involuntarily flew open. Momentarily blinded by a bright, white light that seemed as cold as the atmosphere around her, Amy's eyes rapidly focused on her bizarre surroundings, along with someone in particular.

Isabel.

* * *

The first word- _words- _that had come out of her as soon as she located her voice was: "...Please tell me I'm dead."

But she knew now that she wasn't. Everything started to come back- the Kabra Estate, the emergency meeting, the secret library, and the kidnapping.

Isabel put on the warmest smile she could manage. "Oh, Amy. You never seem to disappoint me, dear. And no, on the contrary, you're very much alive, and isn't that a relief? It would be such a pity if you weren't, darling- I've missed you so much- how have you been?"

"Well enough, until YOU kidnapped me prisoner," Amy replied stonily, surprised at her abrupt defiance while observing her whereabouts. She was lying in a circular, dome-shaped room that looked like a typical interrogating cell in a prison, only it was much bigger, the walls snow-white and spotless, and she was lying cuffed to a dentist's chair, with Isabel Kabra towering over her. The only part of the room that didn't hurt her eyes with its brightness was the door, which was made of glass. She could see two burly, hooded men each armed with a huge gun standing guard on the other side, and a hallway that stretched beyond the limits of her sight.

Isabel's smile slightly faltered for a moment then widened, if that was even possible- her perfect teeth glistening in contrast with her bright red lipstick. Perhaps somebody who didn't know her would have thought her beautiful. All that came into Amy's mind was: _creep._

"Now, Amy, that's a bit harsh, isn't it?" Isabel's tone was kind, but no one could mistake the fire burning behind her sinister amber eyes. "Of course you aren't a prisoner."

"Sure looks like it to me," Amy snorted, staring at her silver handcuffs.

"You're a guest- for time being."

"I have no intention of being one, unless it comes with the guarantee of me being able to return home of _my own free will,_ um, as in, NOW... that is, just in case you weren't aware of the definition of the word _guest."_

Amy watched Isabel struggling to compose herself, secretly marveling at her bravery talking back to Isabel like that. Under less pressure, she might have congratulated herself for not stuttering even once as well, but all she could think about was how much she loathed the woman and how on earth she was going to stage an escape. So far, no good.

_"Your home?" _Isabel finally managed, all traces of feigned hospitality gone. "Has my disowned son softened so far as to let such meager Cahills refer to _my_ estate as _home? _To think that he was once whom I called _son..."_ Isabel pursed her lips, her eyes running over Amy as if she was X-raying her. Then realization dawned in her eyes, and she let out a short laugh that sent chills down Amy's back.

"Oh, pardon me, Amy. I almost forgot that Ian always had something in him for you. So are you two finally, as you Americans say, _going public?" _

Amy's cheeks pinked, much to her frustration. She mustn't show vulnerability in front of Isabel Kabra for a second- not to her detriment. She looked humorlessly into Isabel's eyes (which looked just like Ian's, she noticed with a jolt) and tried her best to speak unemotionally, although her stutter failed her epically. "Enough with the sm- small talk, Isabel. Why do you have me here?"

Isabel looked triumphant at Amy's sudden unstableness, as she leisurely made her way behind Amy, her stilettos clicking sharply on the concrete floor. Straining to look but not succeeding, Amy heard the faint click of a button when the chair she was sitting on started rotating. Surprised, Amy sat dumbfounded as she stopped swiveling after making a 180 degree turn, and came face-to-face with the point of a very familiar dart gun.

That was when Amy realized she and Isabel were not alone.

* * *

"For the last time, _I don't know the formula for Gideon's final serum! _Nobody does! The serum was destroyed back at the Gauntlet! Uncle Fiske decided the secret of the serum was too dangerous for anyone to keep, so-"

"Don't pretend, Amy. I'm starting to lose my patience," Isabel sighed. "Or are you really taking me for a fool? I suppose Alistair never knew that the effects of the pill he fed me in the Gauntlet was only partly perfect. Which means that I remember everything that happened- the hostages in the cemetery, the explosives- everything! I even remember the final Clue, the recipe for the serum, that was activated by the fingerprints from the members of all five branches!" She broke off, drawing her breath in raggedly, only one step away from losing her head.

"Then why are you doing this to me, if you know everything already?" Amy demanded.

_"Because I don't remember anything else that followed after!" _Isabel screamed, finally exploding. _"That cursed pill was faulty up to just the wrong moment!" _Seething, she lurched forwards and wrenched the dart gun out of the hand that was holding it and aimed it straight between Amy's eyes. Amy refused to let show that she was intimidated, but it was hard working on a poker face when her insides were shaking furiously in fright.

"She's just trying to get to you, mum- I mean, Lady Isabel," soothed the girl on Amy's right- the one that had been keeping Amy at bay with what she recognized as Natalie's signature weapon- who fell silent at once under a single scorching glare from Isabel. As nervous as she was of the gun dangerously close to the bridge of her nose, Amy couldn't take her eyes off the girl. She had flawless white skin and bouncy blonde locks that framed her heart-shaped face perfectly, giving off the impression of a porcelain doll. She looked about Dan's age, give or take a year. But it wasn't her dazzling beauty, radiant even next to Isabel, that Amy couldn't take her eyes off her.

It was the girl's amber eyes, an exact replica of Ian's and his sister's... and Isabel's.

Her voice was almost identical to Natalie's.

And she had called Isabel _'Mum.'_

Isabel followed Amy's gaze to the girl, who cowered slightly at the look on her face, which gradually calmed. Isabel smiled stiffly.

"I see I forgot to introduce my children," she said, carelessly tossing her gun back into the girl's hands.

Amy's eyes widened in shock. "Your _what?" _

"My new, _loyal_ children- my daughter, Emmeline Vesper, and her brother, Felix," she gestured to the gorgeous boy standing behind her, also armed with a dart gun. Felix had long, spiky bangs in the same shade of gold as his sister, and equally fair skin, with identical amber eyes. He was really tall- maybe even neck in neck with Hamilton- and just as lean as Ian, probably around eighteen or so. How Isabel could have had other children hidden away, when she already had Ian and Natalie to take care of, Amy couldn't answer. Maybe they were adopted? That would explain how Emmeline and Felix looked so close to their age, but she couldn't doubt that they were Isabel's children by blood- not when their resemblance to Ian and Natalie was so apparent, sharing some of Isabel's most obvious traits. But that still didn't answer the million-dollar question- _how was it possible?_

"It would be rather nice if we didn't have to resort to the more drastic means, Amy- oh, don't look so surprised, we've heard a lot about you," Emmeline said sweetly, her face perfectly angelic, except for the fact she was holding a lethal weapon to her head.

"Even if I can't remember the clues, I know you and your brother won the competition," Isabel's eyes narrowed until they were only slits. She seemed to be dwelling on something before addressing Emmeline. "Perhaps toxin number fifty-one will do the job."

"Oh, so now you're going to p-poison me?"

Isabel laughed evilly. "No, dear- just a precaution! We aren't so barbaric enough to resort immediately to the traditional measures... at least, not just yet. Why don't we try negotiating, keeping peace- isn't that what you Madrigals want? You give us the formula, and I won't touch you or your precious family."

"I _told _you, I couldn't give you the clues even if I wanted to- and by the way, what the Madrigals want strictly applies to only the Cahills, _not _the Vespers."

Isabel cocked her head to one side, looking faintly amused. "You know perfectly well I can breach the defenses of the Kabra Estate. The Cahills are no match for us. You're a smart girl, Amy, so I trust you know I am perfectly capable of doing so again. Who should I bring this time, to keep you company? I do so want to see _darling _Daniel again..."

Amy tried her best to look nonchalant at Isabel's threat, but her heartbeat quickened. This was the one thing she had hoped Isabel wouldn't bring up. Dan was the only person who knew all thirty-nine clues, due to his amazing photographic memory. He was the protector of the secret. Isabel thought Amy was bluffing now, but if she ever found out about Dan... Amy mentally shook her head. She was responsible for his safety- she couldn't let Isabel anywhere near him. She pressed her lips together and remained silent.

"Perhaps Amy needs some time to jog her memory," Isabel said after a moment of quietness, Amy still refusing to say anything. "Felix- take Amy down to the, uh, _accommodations_ we have arranged, and assign Gaston and Dario to her. Leave it to them to work out their own shifts- I want you to come straight back here, there are matters to be discussed."

Felix, still brandishing his dart gun, removed his necklace, revealing two keys dangling from the thin red chain. Isabel snatched it and used the smaller key to unlock the tight handcuffs on Amy's hands. A pink line adorned her wrists, which stung at the touch of the cool air. She was just reaching out to rub them and ease the pain, when she felt a sharp sting on her shoulder, and gasped. The last thing Amy saw was Emmeline's demonic smile, holding an injector filled with clear bluish liquid, before she blacked out, all the while worrying about her family back at Ian's mansion and afraid of what Isabel was planning next.

* * *

Amy was getting sick and tired of being drugged, then left to wake up in the middle of nowhere.

In contrast to the gleaming white room she had been interrogated in before, Amy was surprised to find her cell just that- a normal prison cell. Everything was exactly as she had imagined a jail would be- a cramped, dark, underground room surrounded on all fours by bare cement walls, a cold floor, and one hard bed. The Vespers certainly knew how to treat their prisoners, Amy thought bitterly. All she had gotten to eat for the day was a quarter cup of water and two boiled potatoes (her day guard was clumsy enough to spill half of what little liquid the cup held), and Felix had shown his courtesy as Isabel's 'new, loyal son' by unceremoniously dumping her on the floor. _Of course he couldn't have been BOTHERED to waste three more seconds of his golden life just to put me on the bed, _Amy rolled her eyes. Whatever kind of mind-meld Isabel had performed on her new Ian and Natalie, it had Kabra written all over it. _I guess I should just feel lucky they didn't do anything worse, _she sighed, fingering Grace's necklace.

She didn't have a watch, because the Vespers had stripped her of all her communicative devices upon arrival (although how on earth they managed to figure out the watch was a transmitter, she had no idea), but Amy could still tell it was either really late at night or way early in the morning, because it had been a good couple of hours since her sentry had exchanged shifts. She didn't feel at all sleepy, probably because of all the tranquilizers, but she still kept her face buried in the moldy blankets, hidden from the cameras up in each corner of the ceiling.

Amy had to devise a plan to get out as quickly as possible, but how? She was dealing with a bunch of people who had enough brains and technology to break into Ian's mansion, for heaven's sake! All her Madrigal training wouldn't be half enough to spirit her out of her cell, let alone the headquarters. Also, she still had no idea where she was. She could be in some secret Vesper stronghold anywhere on Earth, in which case she wouldn't be able to return to her family even if she escaped. Plus, the latest threat Isabel had issued was still nagging her brain. As long as she was here and powerless, she had to be able to stall Isabel, at least until Uncle Fiske came up with a plan. The agents would start arriving tomorrow, if all went as she supposed. They would think of something. And whatever happened, she couldn't let Isabel get her evil, manicured hands on Dan. Blast Gideon's final serum- her brother's safety was first, whatever the situation. She would just have to lie her way as best as she could.

Suddenly, Amy felt a slight change in the silent atmosphere. _Not an emotional change,_ she pondered, frowning into the bed covers, _but physical._ What could be happening this time?

Someone was visiting her cell.

Who could it be? Isabel, or one of her doll-faced children? What were they going to do to her _now_? Amy lay as still as a statue, forcing herself to breathe evenly. Relying on her hair to cover her face, she spied through the curtain of her ruby locks.

All that was visible in the dim light of a single bulb in the corridor beyond her bars were the silhouettes of her beefy night guard and the unknown visitor. He- or was it she?- was hooded in a gray cloak, veiling his- her- face under a shadow, so it couldn't be seen. Amy could see that the person's figure was small, looking even more so next to her enormous sentry. Emmeline, Amy thought.

"Lady Isabel wants the prisoner for further interrogation," her visitor said. A girl. It was definitely a young girl- but it wasn't Isabel's Vesper daughter. Her voice was way too boyish to be mistaken for Emmeline's feminine, tinkling voice. Another Vesper, then, doing Isabel's dirty work for her, Amy assumed in disgust.

"I am under strict orders not to let anyone speak with the prisoner, without certified proof that you are acting under her orders," her sentry replied gruffly, in a heavy Italian accent. "Unfortunately, that includes you, Agent 471."

"I highly doubt our mistress will be pleased when she hears you failed to disobey a direct order from one of her most trusted agents, Dario."

"I am aware of your status, as well as of how you are regarded by her," Dario bowed his head slightly. "But the Lady has made it clear that without authentication it is both necessary and authorized to stick to our own means of persuasion." The threat couldn't have been clearer, even in his robot like monotone voice.

There was a moment of silence. Amy's heart pounded against her chest as she watched the girl remain quiet, as if in consideration. What in the name of Gideon was going on, Amy had no idea- therefore, she almost lapsed into anaphylactic shock when the girl suddenly shouted, "Amy, get under the bed!"

Completely bewildered being addressed by name by a complete stranger that she thought was an enemy, Amy fell off the bed. Dazed, she only just managed to interpret the girl's order and obey her, when from somewhere beneath her floor-length cloak she produced a small object that was glowing red and emitting a beeping sound. Before the stunned guard could even recover from his surprise, she reached out from under his arm, wedged the device onto one of the bars of the cell, then leaped away. All it took was a mere glance for Amy to realize what it was and flatten herself against the wall in terror, when with a tremendous sound and lots of smoke, the entire wall of steel rods blew up, reduced to a pile of ashes and chunks of metal in a heartbeat.

After the thick, sooty air finally cleared, Amy saw that Dario was crumpled on the ground a couple of yards away, knocked out by the force of the explosion. From the dark end of the hallway, the girl emerged again, unscathed, but this time accompanied by a taller and broader person dressed in similar fashion. They hurried over to the wreckage and halted just a way off from the mouth of Amy's cell. Still cowering under the bed, Amy watched the girl's tall companion shoot a gun- _a real gun- _at each of the four cameras, its battered remains raining down onto the concrete floor with the sound of breaking glass. Still not fully over her trauma, Amy inched out from her cover shaking, as her two saviors helped her up.

"Thanks, I g-guess, um... who-?"

"There will be time for introductions later, once we've put some distance between us and this chaos," the taller of the two said- a guy, by the sound of his voice. "Best be going- bring her up," he called out to the girl beside Amy, dashing down the corridor. She nodded, then tugged on Amy's arm, gesturing for her to follow, but she pulled back, hesitating.

"He-hey, um, I know you just rescued me and everything, but... how do I know I can trust you guys?"

Without answering, the girl quickly checked her watch and turned to her. "Five minutes," she spoke rapidly. "We've presumably got about five minutes to get out of here and into our escape vessel, _if_ we want to make it out alive. Chances are, they'll probably be aware of everything already- cameras aren't the only way of surveillance around here. Please, Amy, I know this might be a confusing turn of events for you but for the moment, you NEED to confide in us- we'll explain everything along the way!"

_Confusing _didn't even cover it, Amy thought, but she knew she had nothing to lose, really. She was already captured by her worst enemies, had been threatened by Isabel Kabra- and now these people, however crazy things seemed, were offering her a way out. Whatever happened next, how worse could anything get?

Amy stretched her arms out, bracing herself for what could be the most desperate run of her life. "Okay, that was a stupid question. Let's get out of here."

* * *

Hope you liked it- and don't forget to R&R!


	6. Escape

Thanks again everyone, for the totally awesome reviews! Love you all for your support!

Oh, and the number of views completely threw me off my feet :)

I don't know when I'll be able to update again, now that school's started and I've got a lot on my hands. But I'll try my best to get back as soon as I can!

Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues, or Amy and Ian would have been an item long before book 10.

* * *

Dan had never felt so exhausted in his life, and it was all because of his sister.

No, screw that. It was all because of a certain snake who happened to be obsessed with his sister.

Ian had ditched their copter back in some town called Amesbury (Dan had almost puked at Ian's choice of location- it was definitely no accident the town's name was _Amesbury, _he thought), saying that the Vespers would very likely be conducting surveillance of their own, and that they should walk to Stonehenge from there on. He didn't have a problem with that... at first. Except here he was, half an hour later, having walked nonstop and STILL not there yet, the famous circle of stones a couple of puny specks in the distance.

"You know, dude, you could have totally warned me it was, like, a million miles away," Dan complained. "I could have used a word in advance. My legs feel like lead right now, and if we're going to be crawling in the grass like this for a minute longer, I'll probably morph into a snail."

"Daniel, do you ever stop talking?" Ian looked down at him, irritated. "I suppose it hasn't occurred to you that we're on Vesper turf right now. There are countless ways we could be discovered- perhaps we are already being watched, even as we speak, in which case means that we're at _their _mercy. And if they haven't spotted us yet, thank Gideon- we don't need to make it any easier for them by marching down the main road, do we? How much help do you think we're going to be to your sister if we end up in a cell with her?"

"Yeah, but at least we'll get there faster if we get caught. At this rate, we'll probably reach Stonehenge when the sun SETS. Besides, it's not like we haven't disguised ourselves. Maybe _you're_ feeling fine with your glue-on goatee, which is really cheesy by the way, but I feel like there are ants crawling around in my scalp! Out of a trillion wigs in your house, you just HAD to pick the one that was used by some dude with a serious case of head lice_._ Also, how come _you_ get to wear sunglasses and _I_ have to wear these itchy contact lenses? In case you haven't noticed, there are more people in the world with green eyes than there are with yellow. Oh, and for the zillionth time, it's not Daniel, it's _Dan_. Rhymes with _man. _But for the moment it's Blake McArthur, uh, Jason."

"Indeed. So let's just say that somehow, we are rather unfortunately spotted by some innocent local person. Please explain why two teens, very obviously from out of town, are strolling along toward one of the most major landmarks of the world at this time of the day?"

Dan snapped his fingers. "Easy. We want to be the first in line when Stonehenge opens up to the public."

"That _is _perfectly legible, apart for the fact that it opens at nine o'clock, NOT six in the morning."

"Then we're out on an early morning exercise! Six o'clock is a perfectly reasonable time for starting a new day with a walk."

"Right, _Blake, _but in case you haven't noticed, we're wearing camouflage, with binoculars around our necks, and a waist pack full of things that wouldn't usually be found in possession of the common passersby."

"We can always argue that Jonah recently declared camouflage-print tracksuits as his latest fashion line, and that the binoculars are for sightseeing. Look, why are you asking me to make up the excuses? You, Mr. Lucian, are the strategy guy- and I don't know if you've forgotten, but you're the one who picked out the military outfits, not me. And I doubt we'll get spotted by anybody, unless they're up to no good- I haven't seen a regular house on the road for ages! How far is it from Amesbury to Stonehenge, anyway?"

"Four point one kilometers. We've got about thirty more minutes left before we reach our destination- we're halfway there. And I only picked camouflage because it would make us less visible on the grass, and because it looked relatively comfortable and _appropriate _for this mission than my usual attire, and your peasant clothes. You think I don't want to be back in my crisp Armanis?"

"Well excuse me, Ian _I-never-wear-clothes-that-cost-under-one-thousand-dollars-except-when-I'm-rescuing-the-girl-of-my-dreams _Kabra, but I'm _American. _We dudes from the States don't use metric."

"Two point six miles. Honestly, I don't know why you people bother using different statistics, when the rest of the world is coherent under the metric system. And I simply don't understand your obsession with Fahrenheit- Celsius is so much easier to understand. Oh, and we're in England, if you haven't noticed- it's not dollars, it's pounds."

"Dollars, pounds, whatever. Anyway, it's because we Americans are _cool. Unique._ We appreciate differences and welcome diversity. That's why people call the U.S. _the Melting Pot. _Don't you know anything?"

"I fail to see the relevance," Ian retorted coolly, rolling his eyes. He had long since given up trying to make sense of what Dan had to say all the time. It seemed like it was an impossible feat for him to walk ten meters without starting to babble on some random subject. Maybe he _should_ have left him behind at the Estate and performed this mission alone, because Dan Cahill wasn't helping at ALL right now. He had no idea how someone could act so laid-back, when their sister's life was on the line. He had tried to look at things from Dan's point of view, and he DID understand, if only very little, that Dan was trying to hide his anxiety through talking nonstop. But however noble the cause, it didn't change the fact that he was forced to endure it for half an hour now, and had to put up with it for the rest of the way. It was enough to drive anyone crazy, he reasoned.

Ian refocused his binoculars back to Stonehenge. So far, he was fairly certain they hadn't been spotted, although he couldn't be entirely sure- after all, it was the Vespers they were dealing with. He had taken as much precautions as possible- hiding their copter, studying the GPS which marked Amy's location every five minutes, and staying clear of the main road, all to Dan's dismay. It irked him that Stonehenge was smack in the middle of a wide, open field, which meant more opportunities for them to be discovered. Lowering the binoculars, Ian's hand brushed against his waist pack, accidentally dropping one of its contents onto the grassy field. Glowering slightly, he glanced downwards and found that the bag was halfway gaping open, its contents, typical Cahill gadgetry, visible between the zipper straps. Ian saw that he'd knocked his tracking device to the ground, and bent over to pick it up.

Then he froze.

"Wha-" Dan began, before Ian clapped a hand to his mouth and pushed him down, pressing him so he was flat on his stomach in the grass, before he followed suit. Not that the posture gave them much cover, but Ian's attention, for the first time, wasn't focused on Stonehenge, but rather on a blinking red dot on the screen of his tracking device. That dot marked the location where Amy was situated, corresponding with the GPS Ian had planted in her necklace. For the past six times he had checked on their way to Stonehenge, it hadn't budged an inch. But at the moment, it was moving very fast, further away from Stonehenge towards the middle of the field they were standing near the edge of. But as far as he could see, there was no one about- which meant that she was traveling... underground?

Ian jerked his head upwards, facing the seemingly endless rolling sea of green. There was a low hill about five hundred yards off that partly obscured the landscape beyond, but it wasn't high enough to hide a faraway blob of black that he had previously disregarded. Ripping off his darkly tinted sunglasses and jamming the binoculars to his eyes, he saw that it wasn't just a patch of rocks in the field as he had assumed, but in fact a plain black minivan.

Wait, what was a minivan doing so far off from the road, alone in the middle of an expansive, deserted lea at six o'clock in the morning? Come to think of it, that hill suddenly seemed suspicious, too- as far as Ian could see, it was the only elevated area for miles around, surrounded by completely leveled land that continued on and on, stretching into the distance. How could he have not noticed this earlier on? His Cahill senses should have been ringing alarms long before this.

Springing back up, Ian pulled Dan back to his feet. But he didn't get the chance to say anything more than _"We've got to-" _when all of a sudden, the ground started shaking beneath his feet. Ian's eyes widened in alarm.

"Earthquake!" Dan shouted, and started dragging Ian further into the field.

_"What are you doing?!" _

"Saving our necks! Open area- less damage!"

But Ian, whose eyes were glued to the hill, pinned Dan in place. "You idiot! This isn't an earthquake! Look-" he pointed. Dan spun around, wondering what the heck Ian was talking about, then was immediately rooted to the ground, flabbergasted.

The side of the hill was starting to collapse for no reason, the grass and soil plummeting to the ground. In a mere five seconds, a huge hole had formed on the base of the hill, just like an entrance to a cave. Ian, being the first to snap out of his surprise, sprinted to the side so he could get a better view, and was surprised to see that the cave-in had actually revealed a real, hidden cave- except that its floor was covered in asphalt. _A secret entrance!_

This had to be it.

Ian cast a frantic look at Dan, who seemed to have been sharing his thoughts. They locked eyes in understanding, but before either of them could act, they were distracted by voices yelling in panic, followed by the sound of guns. As they watched, someone hooded came dashing out. In a fit of rage boiling up inside him, Ian recognized it was Amy's kidnapper- he wouldn't mistake that gray cloak for anything. The person was closely followed by two others, one in a similar attire as the first, the other in regular clothes. But the darkness of the sky before sunrise was not enough to conceal the bright flash of some very familiar red hair.

"Hey, isn't that-?" Dan started quizzically, but Ian was already running off into the distance, towards the mouth of the artificial cavern that would very soon be hosting chaos.

* * *

Back in her cell, Amy's savior had made the whole escaping thing sound so simple.

That is, at least until a mad crowd had mobilized behind her.

"This way!" the girl shouted, skidding to the right. Amy allowed a glance over her shoulder- there were now over twenty people chasing her, all of them armed gunmen, half of them even bigger and beefier than any of the Holts.

There was no way she could outrun them if this proved to be a long haul.

Yet Amy kept on running, holding desperately onto what little hope she had left as she urged her legs to pump faster. _This is only part of what you trained for all those years- you can do this!_

But that little strand of hope vanished when Amy saw where they were heading.

"That's- _that's a dead end!" _Amy shrieked as the white walls of the Vesper stronghold diminished into what looked like an underground cave, lined with soil and sediments and bits of dead grass that protruded from either side once in a while. Apart from the floor, that is, which was paved with concrete. All of it had been for nothing- now they had no other choice but to be caught, sent back into her dull, gloomy prison, helplessly awaiting her fate, which would entirely depend upon Isabel's decision. _Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no..._

"No, it's not- it's our exit!" the girl panted beside her.

_Has she got a plan, or has she lost her head in the last five minutes?_

"Stop right there!" came a voice from somewhere behind her. Amy looked, to find out to her dismay that Isabel's _new children _had joined the chase. Emmeline and Felix were after them on a MOTORCYCLE- the brother revving the engine while his sister perched behind him, somehow managing to keep her balance and aim her own gun at Amy at the same time. Under normal circumstances, Amy would have had room in her brain to be considerably impressed at the fact that Emmeline came within inches of shooting her while on a dangerously swerving, two-wheeled vehicle, but given the current situation that she was attempting the impossible, dodging bullets while trying to beat a motorcycle and twenty men that made Eisenhower Holt look _normal _to her 'escape vessel', all Amy could do was pray for a miracle.

And there it was.

At first, Amy couldn't hear anything until the ground actually started shaking. _Oh great, now we're ALL going to die- buried alive, _she thought, as clumps of dirt rained from the ceiling and the walls crumbled down. She could hear Emmeline yelling at her brother to stop, screeching something about her hair being ruined, and Amy almost smiled despite herself, once again reminded of Natalie, who she hoped was safe along with everyone else. Then, in the distance- she couldn't see anything but a dim silhouette, it was so dark- she saw her other savior standing at the end of the cavern, backing away toward them. Suddenly, the barrier ahead of them literally began to collapse inwards like an avalanche of dirt. Amy screamed, but her companion wouldn't stop- she tried to halt her legs, but now they were moving on their own accord, tearing across the asphalt ground closer and closer to an inevitable collision. Squinting until she could barely see, Amy stuck her arms out in front of her face, bracing for the impact.

It never came.

Instead, a whoosh of cold air slapped against her face, making Amy's eyes fly open in pure shock. She wasn't staring anymore into a wall of dust and grime, but miles and miles of grassland, the dawn sky, and a single black van. She almost lost her balance and tripped straight into the soft soil she was treading on, the cement ground now behind her. One of the people who rescued her- the boy- was already at the car, starting the engine, getting ready to go. The girl beside her sped ahead for the last fifty feet, diving into the open minivan. Amy was just about to follow when a voice so welcome, she first thought it was part of her imagination, hollered out her name.

Amy turned her head to the right and stopped short, her mouth falling open. "I- Ian? Dan?"

From inside the car, the girl tugged on her arm. _"There's no time! What are you doing?"_

"DON'T, AMY! You're running into a trap!" Ian bellowed, advancing toward the car. "They're your kidnappers!"

"No, they're not, they saved me- the kidnapper was Isabel!" she cried out, but Ian didn't seem to hear her, continuing to shout _step away from the van!_ The boy at the wheels pounded the seat beside him.

"IF WE DON'T GET OUT OF HERE THIS INSTANT, WE'RE ALL DEAD!" he roared, at the same time the girl screamed hysterically, "Get in the car!"

"Not without my friend and my brother! Dan, Ian, get in this car!" she yelled out. Ian and Dan were almost to the van, when a bullet went whistling past her ear and smashed the window of the vehicle on the other side. Amy saw Ian falter at the sight of the Vespers who were finally catching up with them, then changed his course mid-jump, making straight for the van. The car lurched violently to the side at the force of Ian charging into the backseat.

_"Dan!" _Amy screamed. He screeched to an ungraceful halt at the door of the van, showering her with gravel. He looked awed at the crowd of Vespers swarming toward them, giving the impression of a stampede of giant bulls with humongous rifles in hand. Then his face contorted into a frown, puzzled.

"Hey, what's with the pair of Goldilocks?" he asked, looking at Emmeline and Felix roaring up on their motorcycle from within the cave alongside the men, blackened from head to toe in soot, glaring daggers in their direction.

"Stop them!" Felix shouted, expertly maneuvering the vehicle with one hand, brandishing yet another gun toward them. Amy grabbed her brother by the collar and with one mighty pull, yanked him into the van and slammed the door close, just in time as the bullets were let loose, cannoning against the backside of the car.

_"Drive!" _the girl, Ian and Amy screamed in unison, and the van shot forward obligingly, racing down the field away from the hill, zooming along so fast that it wasn't long before they were out of range of the guns. Amy felt momentarily relived, but unfortunately, it was too early to relax- the pursuit wasn't over.

"Hey, I don't know if anyone's noticed, but Goldilocks One and Two are still in gear and gaining," Dan said. Emmeline and Felix were indeed hot on their tail on the motorcycle, their faces twisted into grimaces and their hair flying behind them.

"Do you think we can lose them?" the girl called up front.

"Um, I hate to say this, but I'm thinking the immediate danger isn't behind us," the boy replied in a strained, strangled voice. Everyone's eyes, which were all glued to the persistent duo following them, swiveled back forward, wondering what their driver meant by _immediate danger._

All it took was one look, and then they instantly knew.

* * *

The dense forest was looming over them, coming up dangerously fast.

"Three hundred meters- two hundred- one-" Dan chanted, sticking his head out of the sunroof of the van.

"That's not helping, you dweeb!" Amy shoved her brother back into his seat, pulling the roof cover shut.

"The brakes!" Ian yelled, panic etched into his face. "Hit the brakes!"

Howling in frustration, the hooded boy at the driver's wheel floored the accelerator, knocking everybody backwards.

"Oh, move _over!" _Amy commanded. Not waiting for a response, she threw herself into the driver's seat, squashing the boy flat against the door. Grabbing hold of the wheel, she clambered into the cushiony leather chair and wrenched the handle sideways. They missed crashing into the thicket of trees by half a meter, the car turning so sharply that they shot across the field for about a hundred feet, balanced only on one side.

Dan punched his fist into the air excitedly. "Sweeeeeeet!" he crowed as he watched Felix and Emmeline, who weren't as lucky, abandon their ride and dive off in opposite directions a split second before the motorcycle bashed into the forest with a deafening smash, pummeling a couple of trees before it broke apart into pieces. "Take that, you suckers!" he cheered, poking his head through the sunroof again, then dropped back down, regarding the minivan with newfound respect. "Holy yakuza, this baby is freaking awesome! A headlong ninety-degree ski stunt at breakneck speed, and we _totally _nailed it. Wait till Hammy hears about this!"

"Thank god at least _one _person in this car knew how to drive," Ian said, casting a weary smile at Amy, who blushed. Now that the crisis was temporarily over, Amy felt completely worn out. She hadn't noticed how tensed she'd been the whole time.

"Dude, you don't know how to drive, do you?" Dan poked the boy still sandwiched between the door and Amy.

"Yes, he can! Um, well, okay, he isn't _that_ good at it, but-" his companion leaped to his defense, pulling him to the backseats and plopping him down beside her.

"Face it, he's just about as good at driving as I am at tap-dancing. Or ballet. Or singing. In other words, he's lousy. Now I, on the other hand, would be a different story..."

"Over my dead body!" Amy snapped from up front, eyeing him in the rearview mirror.

"_Pleeeeeeease, _Amy? Hamilton would be sooooo jealous! This baby is the bomb! Oh, come on, I come all the way here to rescue you, and this is the thanks I get?"

"Right. My brother comes here _all the way_- oh, I don't even know where we are!- he comes here all the way to rescue me, and the only thing I hear from him is, _oh, please let me drive this car, Amy, this car is the bomb?" _

"If we ever want to get home in one piece, I say we let Amy man the wheel," Ian intervened quickly, before Dan could retort. "Amy, if you get on the road just around those trees, we'll be in Amesbury- right here," he pulled out a road map from his waist pack and showed her. "Stick to the A303, then change onto the M3, and we'll be heading straight for London. I'll take it to the Kabra Estate from there."

Amy giggled when their eyes met. "What's the goatee for?"

Embarrassed, Ian tore the fake moustache from his face. The top of his lips stung, but he ignored the throbbing. "Just part of our disguise," he muttered.

"Can you believe the Cobra actually picked out something other than those expensive stuff he wears? Yeah, I know, we ended up looking like we busted out of the U.S. Army, but that's not the point- he's finally becoming a human! Oh, and careful- that wig's infected with lice," Dan added, pulling the fake black hair off his head and tossing it toward the trunk.

Laughing, Amy took the map from Ian and scanned it quickly. Her face turned into an expression of anguish when she took her time to read all the notes Ian had written on it. "I was imprisoned under _Stonehenge, _and I never knew?"

"Out of all the cool places the Brits have in England, the Vespers decide to dig a trench under a thousand-year-old-gravesite that was probably made by aliens. You have to admit, they have great taste for their location choices."

"It's four thousand and five hundred, not a thousand, and this isn't funny, Dan- I can't believe I missed a chance to see one of the greatest prehistoric monuments in the world!" Amy craned her neck, straining to see the place they had left behind. "And the whole time, I had been right underneath it. Do you think it'll still be visible from here?"

"Guess what- I actually saw the place! From a distance, yeah, but I still did! Why, Amy, are you jealous? Salivating? Dying to cram one more useless piece of information for your history class into your already full head?"

"Cut it _out, _dweeb!" Amy shot her brother a stern look, although she felt a whole lot more at ease. The fact that her brother was going out of his way to annoy her was just one of Dan's ways of letting Amy know that he'd been worried sick about her. She suddenly felt a strong urge to hug him right then and there, even though she knew perfectly well from first-hand experience that he would hate it. A lot. Amy had to content herself with beaming at him widely.

"FYI, sister-san, we flew all the way from London to this town that was apparently named after you by Ian here, chasing after your kidnapped butt. I had to walk something like, a hundred miles! In _six o'clock in the morning!_ Give us some credit."

"Speaking of rescuing Amy, I believe we have unsettled matters to deal with," Ian said, narrowing his eyes at the two cloaked people, who were silent in the back. "Why don't you start from the beginning- we have a long ride ahead of us. And don't even bother trying anything else, I have enough Cahill technology in this bag to last us a lifetime, I assure you," he threatened.

Sharing an unseen look beneath their gray coverings, the two seemed to hesitate for a second, before reaching a decision. Taking a deep, audible breath, they pulled back their hoods, revealing their faces for the first time.

" I'm Sophie- Sophie Brianna Johnson, and this is my brother Austin," the girl spoke timidly, before looking straight into Ian's amber eyes. "And we're- we're Cahills too. You guys might want to get comfortable, because it's going to be a long, long story."

* * *

Cahill matters usually weren't worth getting wrinkles on her face. Botox cost so much nowadays, and no matter how much cash she invested, those useless doctors never seemed to provide satisfactory results. All that wasted money! Or perhaps it was just one of the imperfections of being so perfect...

Anyway, Isabel supposed that this time, she could allow one tiny, tiny frown.

She stared down at the cowering guard below her, babbling word after word of unpersuasive excuses, in foolish hope that doing so would lighten his punishment. It made her feel so frustrated, having to squander her time dealing with a bunch of gorillas who couldn't even keep a helpless girl stay put in her cell. So bored, sitting there listening to him ranting about how two of her most trusted agents just stabbed her in the back and ran away with what could have provided a far easier way to accomplish her goal. She'd already known that. She'd known from the start of the clue hunt, what trust could do to one, how dangerous it was to _confide. _But looking down at this pathetic excuse for a Vesper, begging for her mercy, just made her feel, _oh, I don't know, _so... so...

So _powerful. _

Isabel's grip visibly tightened on her gun, deliberating on whether to shoot the sentry now and just put him out of his misery, or enjoy her momentum of prestige for just a little longer. This caused everybody in the room to stiffen, waiting for the sound of the trigger being pulled, for another person to thud heavily to the floor, lifeless at Isabel's feet- but to everyone's utter amazement, she soon relaxed, and even smiled. "No matter," she said, putting her weapon down. "It might be better for them to bathe in all the hope they have, give them some time to triumph over their small glory... while they can." Isabel stood up from her chair, taking care to dig her stiletto heels into Dario's back as she used him as a stepping stone. Throwing one last disgusted look toward Emmeline and Felix, who were bruised, cut, covered with dead grass and grime and looking positively battered, she turned on her expensive shoes and strutted out of the door, pausing only to issue a single command.

"Hopefully, this time you will manage to prove to me that you aren't _all_ worthless pieces of scum. Move onto phase two."

* * *

Let me know how it was! R&R please!


	7. Meanwhile

Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter! I managed to get back on rather sooner than I expected... but it looks like I'll be going in hiatus for a while now. I'll try my best to upload as often as I can, like I always do- but my midterms are coming up and my grades this year are REALLY important to me! *Sob*

Anyway, thanks so much for all the ah-mazing new reviews! I am deeply touched :) You all rock!

Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues or any of the original characters... just the plot. And the OCs. (Oh, and one of my reviewers requested a chapter dedicated to my OCs so they could understand them better. I don't think I'll be making an all-OC chapter, but they will be explained from time to time, so hopefully in the later chapters they will gradually become more clear! Now, on with the story!)

Hope you like it!

* * *

Natalie Kabra had never felt so depressed.

Well, except for the time she and her brother had become penniless after disowning Isabel in the Gauntlet. (Okay, it was only for about two seconds, yeah, but it had still been a shock to imagine a future without Gucci, Prada, and credit cards with no limit.) Or the time she returned home after the clue hunt to find _last month's fashion line _still in her closet. Now THAT was unforgivable. Oh, plus that unforgettable incident when she was forced to eat, for the first time in her life, _French fries- _which were SO not French, for the record- during her visit to Massachusetts a year ago. She had gotten her revenge, of course- no one ever gets away with harassing a Kabra- by knocking Dan Cahill out for the rest of her stay and giving him a complete makeover. Actually, she thought she had done a pretty good job, so she just couldn't understand his anguish when he finally woke up to find himself in lipstick, eyeliner, and- a final little touch Natalie was especially proud of- a manicure _and _a pedicure, in bright, ruby red_. _The look on Dan's face was priceless, and SO worth the brand new bottle of Chanel _Rouge Carat _she had painstakingly sacrificed. The blackmail video hadn't _really _been deleted yet, stored in a backup file in her MacBook.

But this... this _thing _she was feeling at the moment wasn't quite like the misery she had experienced. It was a strange sensation, almost foreign, that she was sure she had encountered only twice before- once inside the forbidden Lucian wing of the late Kabra mansion, in which she had sneaked into only to find out her brother had done the same thing, and worse, he hadn't let her see anything for herself. Of course, she now understood, having viewed all of the countless documents about what horrible things her mother had done, and was grateful of Ian that he had stopped her from reading them earlier on- although she would never admit it in person. The other time was when Isabel, whom she had thought of as the best mother in the world, actually shot her within the Gauntlet. The pain in her heart had been a thousand times worse than the one in her foot, being forced to finally believe that the one person she had completely depended upon her entire life was in fact a terrible, two-faced monster.

It was _fear._

Throughout her life, Natalie had been woken up in the morning by numerous ways- the call of her butler, the shrieks from her mother, the classical music alarm from her phone (Mozart, of course), and just once on a boat trip, by the sound of her seasick brother throwing up. _Ugh._

But never before had she been jerked awake to the sound of an Ekat's _hideous _high-pitched wailing at six in the morning, screaming something about treachery.

What in the name of Prada was going on?

Natalie sat up in her pink, king-sized canopy bed, rubbing her eyes and squinting at the sudden glare of light. To her horror, she found that there were _people _in her room- her room had been clearly deemed off limits even to the maids ever since she was five. Her butler had to rouse her through the interphone on the ceiling. And further observation revealed that besides a furious Sinead Starling tousling her terribly unconditioned auburn hair, there were BOYS flooding in after her, and not just one.

With a strangled shriek, Natalie instinctively pulled her silky blankets above her head. "Get out, _get out, _what do you think you're doing, barging into someone's room like this? Especially you, you, and you-" she spoke breathlessly, jabbing hysterically at Hamilton, Jonah, and Ned, who weren't paying her the slightest attention, but focusing on rummaging through her belongings. "This, in case you BOYS haven't realized, is_ a_ _lady's bedroom! _Weren't you taught ANY common manners? And most importantly, I, uh, I- oh, for goodness sake-_ I haven't got any makeup on! _For the love of all things trendy, _get out this instant!" _

Sinead marched up to Natalie's bed and wrenched the covers off her. "I can't believe you have the nerve to talk about makeup after what you've done," she sneered. "Now I see why _dear Ian_ left you behind to deal with all the rest of us while HE staged his marvelous escape. You wouldn't be anything but a nuisance to him. I won't repeat myself twice- where has your brother taken Amy and Dan?"

Natalie stared at Sinead as if she had just dropped down from the sky. "What are you talking about? _Who_ took who and who where? Wait, what are you- _No, Jonah, get out of my closet! _You're- _ARRRRGH!"_ Natalie screamed at the sight of Jonah randomly pulling dozens of expensive designer dresses and skirts from its neatly organized racks and piling them onto the floor of her walk-in wardrobe. She leaped up from the bed, her bare face momentarily forgotten. Running over to the world-famous hip hop star, she yanked a pale blue Gucci halter dress from Jonah's hands and hugged it tightly to her chest, like a mother would to protect her child. Amber eyes blazing with rage, she glared at everyone in turn. "Would someone care to explain why you're doing such inhuman things? What's this about Ian?"

Hamilton flung down the numerous sticks of eyeliner he was holding, which looked rather like matchsticks in his enormous hands. He slammed the drawer he was scavenging through shut and stalked over to Natalie, who stared up defiantly at him. He snorted.

"No need to pretend- we all know already, so drop the acting," Hamilton growled. "If you don't tell us right now, I swear I'll beat you, Ian, and your miserable mother up personally when I get my hands on any of you disgusting Lucians. And right now, it looks like you're gonna be the first to claim the honors." He gripped Natalie's slender shoulders, pinning her to place. "Where are you Vespers hiding Amy and Dan? Where's my little buddy?"

"I'm not a Vesper! Ian and I aren't Vespers! We haven't seen Isabel since her imprisonment three years ago! What do you mean, Amy and Dan? What's going on?"

"I don't think there's anything here, Ham," Ned called from her desk, holding a peculiar device in his hand, emitting a green light. "But better search her to make sure. Don't let her go."

Natalie squirmed, wincing at the increasing pressure in her upper torso. "Search me for what? Why are you doing this to me?"

Ignoring her, Sinead stared up at the speaker dangling from above the translucent pink drapes of her bed. "Hold on, Ned- I think this might be it. Give me the sonar device- let's check where this leads to."

"That doesn't lead to anywhere! That's just the intercom for my butler to wake me up in the mornings!" Natalie watched with increasing anxiety as Sinead took a small black device like a laser pointer from her brother, clambered up into her bed (_with those disgusting shoes on! Chanel save my soul, _Natalie thought apprehensively) and aimed it upwards. There was a high-pitched screeching sound, which made everyone clap their hands over their ears except Hamilton, who seemed oblivious to it, and Natalie, whose head rang dizzily. Sinead looked at the "sonar device" and frowned.

"It leads to the kitchen, so I think she's halfway right. There's always the possibility she and Ian could have communicated from there, so we can't let our guard down. What's taking Ted so long? Ah, here he is-" she turned towards the open door, where the other Starling triplet came dragging a bewildered looking Christopher Kabra still in his nightwear by the arm. "Your other accomplice, no?"

"What accomplice? What's happening?" Chris groaned, rubbing his elbow. As he staggered to his feet, Reagan and Madison came dashing in with another small crowd, this time composed of all the adults. Fiske glowered at the scene, then faced Natalie. She tried to plea for help, but he was looking at her with such anger her whole body seemed to lapse into paralysis. She couldn't do anything but share a worried look with her cousin, who seemed equally confused.

"I have to hand it to you Lucians- you guys make me look like a kid when it comes to acting, yo," Jonah shook his head. "That gun-bashing display Nat staged yesterday at the meeting? Man, you totally had us all fooled. I should probably take some lessons from you dawgs- maybe I'll go visit you in your prison cells sometime. On second thought, I'll even bring some extra paparazzi with me, I know you Kabras just adore the press. No need for the thanks- I'm _da Wizard, _no biggie. But if I were you- not that I'd ever want to exchange my stardom and my fans for anything, fo' sho- I'd say the truth right now. 'Cause cuz, acting all goodie-goodie before backstabbing like that is SO not cool."

"Prison cell?" Natalie's eyes widened as her bright irises darted around the room frantically, searching everyone's faces.

"Backstabbing?" Chris stared blankly.

Nellie emerged from somewhere amid the mob of glaring adults, her streaked bangs looking windswept and her black tank top wrinkled beyond repair. She placed her hands on her hips and looked from Natalie to Chris, then back again. Her brow crinkled. "You seriously don't know what's going on?" Natalie and Chris both nodded.

"Don't be swayed, Nellie, it's so obviously a ruse," Sinead snapped impatiently, but Nellie walked cautiously towards Natalie and gently pushed Hamilton away, who moved aside, although looking more than a little disgruntled. Natalie, whose face had been tensed awkwardly like she was concentrating on something, finally broke into tears as she unexpectedly flung her arms around Nellie. Everyone looked considerably astonished.

"Why does everyone h- h- _hate _us so much?" she sobbed, quickly drenching Nellie's shirt with tears. "We KNOW we did stupid things in the past, but now we're trying to make up for it! But you guys just refuse to accept the fact that we've changed, just because a horrid witch just happens to be my m- m-" her words merged into tearful gasps as she buried her face into Nellie's hair, crying all the while. "And now everyone's accusing us about something ELSE that's happened, and no one will tell me what's going on! Jonah's wrecked all my clothes, and Hamilton's destroyed my cosmetics case, and STILL nobody bothers to hear us out!"

At Natalie's sudden breakout, everyone looked distressed. Hamilton now looked more sheepish than angry, and Jonah stared at the ground, his mouth pressed together tightly at the mention of his name. Reagan and Madison were clinging to their parents, perplexity etched into their faces, while the rest just ogled Natalie and Nellie wordlessly, not knowing what to do. Only Sinead still seemed slightly suspicious, refusing to relax her tensed body. For a moment, nothing could be heard but Natalie's sobs racking the room. After a short while, her cascade of tears subsided into small sniffles, all the while hugging Nellie tightly, who was gently patting her on the back. Alistair hesitantly stepped forward.

"Excuse me, but what exactly DID happen? All I could make out of Reagan's and Madison's shouting was something about Dan... kidnapped? Who noticed his disappearance first?"

"I did," Hamilton said. "We Holts get up at six in the morning regularly for a morning jog, back at home. I guess the habit kind of stuck, because it was still dark outside when I woke up. I decided to go exercising like always, because it somehow doesn't feel right when, you know, I start the day without a good run?"

"Perfectly understandable," Eisenhower nodded his approval.

"Can we just get to the point?" Madison rolled her eyes.

"So," Hamilton glared at his sister, "I went over to Ian's room to ask him how to get down to the back yard outside. But when I knocked, nobody answered. I figured he was asleep, so I knocked a little harder, and called out his name a few times."

"The sound was so loud it woke me up," Ted added.

"I did try to keep it down," Hamilton shrugged apologetically. "But anyways, Ian didn't wake up or anything. I came to the point of checking whether the door was locked or not. Surprisingly, it was open, so I just invited myself in. But no one was there. His blankets were all neat and tidy and everything, and I thought hey, maybe he woke up even earlier or something. Well, obviously I couldn't try finding my way around this place without getting lost, right? So I just strolled down the corridor to Dan's room. But strangely, his bedroom wasn't locked either. Actually, it was slightly ajar. I'm like, huh? _Dan's_ awake at this time of the day? Did I teleport into some parallel world or what? But he wasn't there, and guess what was the weirdest?"

"What?" Sinead asked.

Hamilton took a deep breath, before continuing dramatically in a hushed voice. _"His bed was made!" _

Everyone's eyes widened in shock, and Reagan gasped in surprise. Fiske looked addled, and Ted and Ned were both sighing. "We were there," Ned said to no one in particular. "We saw the whole thing. Everything was in order, not a hair out of place- oh, except for all the feline ones lying on the carpet. Saladin sure looked troubled."

"No way," Nellie responded immediately. "Nuh-uh. Dan NEVER makes his bed. He doesn't even leave his blankets and his pillow in the same place! And no room has Dan Cahill stepped in ever been tidy, is ever tidy, and definitely never will be. Even our housekeeper gave up trying to sort through Dan's stuff after a week. That place is, like, cursed ground for anyone in cleaning business. End of story."

"Yeah, but I'm telling the truth," Hamilton said seriously. "And plus, I checked his backpack. The whole thing was empty, except for a couple of shirts and things. Someone obviously took both our little buddy and his Cahill stuff with them- and who else could the someone be, when Ian Kabra is ever so coincidentally missing as well? So, what do you think, Nat? Still say you're unrelated to this mess?"

Natalie and Chris both looked utterly stunned at the news of Ian's supposed act of betrayal, yet Natalie seemed stubborn. "No. Ian would never do that. I swear, we aren't in league with the Vespers! Why would we be? We found out what a terrible woman Isabel was! She even tried to shoot me, her own daughter! I still have the scar here- look!" She raised her bare foot, where a slight pink patch of skin covered the tip of her big toe. Hamilton looked unfazed.

"Hey, although I might not look like it, I'm pretty good at surveillance of my own. Remember that bell we could use to bring up the butler? I used it, and it was easy enough to find out an absence of a copter among your high-tech aircraft. Oh, and a couple of military suits and several other whatnots. Thankfully, your staff keep very detailed track of all the stuff in your mansion. Can't say the same for me, but at least I'm not stupid enough to realize what this means. Your brother kidnapped Amy and Dan, and he's taking them to the Vespers right now. Or maybe he already delivered them- we don't know when he snitched him. All of us were asleep."

"Did you check the cameras in the corridors?" Chris mentioned.

"That I did," Sinead crossed her arms. "Ned and Ted heard enough about it from Hamilton, and they sent the message along to me. I took it from there. Not that hard enough to hack into the security system, I noticed. It's no wonder the Vespers were able to kidnap Amy in the first place. Anyway, I found Ian going over to Dan's room at about half past four. Obviously he was in such a hurry he couldn't bother fabricating the evidence. Or maybe the idea itself just slipped his mind, desperate to get Dan out of there. At around five o'clock, they both emerged from the room together, and disappeared, leaving you two toast. That good enough for you?"

Natalie slowly shook her head. "That doesn't make sense. Ian's smarter than an average supercomputer. If he was serious about it, he wouldn't let anything go amiss. It doesn't take him longer than a minute at most, to tamper with the cameras. He would also know about Dan's messiness- he wouldn't leave his room spotless like that. He always goes over all the possible ways, all the possible results before putting a plan into action. There are so many things that are strange, so many things that if Ian really did kidnap Dan, wouldn't let seem so. He would know. And besides, if we were acting on behalf of the Vespers, wouldn't Ian have taken us with him? Especially while leaving everything so suspicious?"

Ted pondered for a while. "Maybe it's the simple fact that he accomplished his purpose. Maybe his sole goal was to kidnap both the Cahill children. Since he was done doing all that, it didn't matter whether everyone else knew- it would only be a matter of time before everything became clear. Either way, one thing can't be doubted- Dan disappeared on a copter about an hour ago, and Ian provided the reason. And we still haven't decided what to do with you guys. You guys seem like you don't have a clue about what's going on, but hey, we can't deny the chance that you guys might be lying. For all we know..." Ted trailed off, before continuing. "That's just the point. We don't know. We don't know anything. And that's why we can't just let you go."

Natalie slumped to the ground, devastated. It couldn't be real, but all the evidence pointed toward the fact that Ian was a traitor. Her own brother- how could he, after all Isabel had done to them? She couldn't reject that she hadn't been missing her mother, the mother she had thought she knew, the mother Isabel posed as during the younger, happier days of her childhood. As horrible as Isabel might have been to them, when Natalie thought of Isabel's face, she couldn't help but be reminded of the days when she and her mother had gone shopping together, picked out the best clothes in the stores, complimented each other... well, Natalie had done all the complimenting, but the memories still felt good. Golden.

But still... she was so sure Ian had liked Amy. Was that a hoax as well? Part of his act? Was her brother capable of much more frightening things than she had supposed? She knew she had changed, but did the same apply to her brother?

Had she known Ian at all?

Drowning in despair, Natalie cast a glance at her cousin, and was startled to see that he didn't look anguished, betrayed, or sullen, in any way at all. Rather, his face was calm and composed, as if he was thinking something through very carefully. With a sudden jolt somewhere deep down inside her, Natalie's hands began to sweat. What if Chris had something to do with Ian's deception as well? Was her whole family sided with the Vespers now? Was that why everyone called them evil? She didn't think she was, but could the others see the dark side in her, the same vileness that seemed to reside in her other fellow Kabras?

Was that why everyone hated her so much?

"Wait," Chris held his hands up. Everyone's eyes turned to the handsome teenager kneeled on the floor, slightly frowning, engrossed in some unknown thought. "Wait," he repeated, reorganizing his thoughts before he put them into words. Finally, he opened his mouth. "Look, from what I've heard in the last couple of minutes, it sure makes us sound like the bad guys. I can see that it wouldn't do much help to argue that Natalie and I are innocent, under the circumstances. But haven't you guys considered the possibility that this whole thing could be a set-up? What if the cameras were manipulated to make it seem like Ian hijacked Dan? What if they were BOTH kidnapped? The Vespers made off with Amy successfully before- they could have done it again, but this time with BOTH Ian and Dan."

"Hey, we're Ekats," Ned rolled his eyes. "We're not dimwits. Of course we took that into account. But that's exactly the point. They managed to kidnap Amy without us being able to discern her location correctly, and they didn't even have to meddle any of the security devices in the Kabra mansion or the London streets. Also, the kidnapping was committed in broad daylight. But this time, it was when everyone was asleep, so the crime would have proved to be easier in so much aspects. Why take the time to cover up their own tracks when they were so careless before? And besides, it took us about thirty seconds to examine the video record. There wasn't any sign of fabrication- all the pixels were in the right places and everything."

Fiske cleared his throat. "Apart from all that, the thing that bugs me the most is the fact that the Vespers have now taken Dan into custody. Dan, of all people. We all know that Dan is the only one who knows the full recipe of the serum. And as strong-willed as my nephew might be, he would gladly trade the serum's secrets a thousand times before he could bear to see any of his loved ones be threatened by Isabel. She would know that. It wouldn't be hard to cajole the information out of him, especially when she has Amy as hostage- and Ian, if it were proved that he was also a victim. Which, under the current situation, doesn't seem that plausible."

Hamilton groaned. "If only Sal could speak English! He was there at the scene of the crime, he could tell us everything! Hey," he turned to Nellie and Fiske, raising his eyebrows. "You guys don't have any recording devices planted on him or anything, do you? I mean, Dan always told me about how Saladin was a great asset in the Clue hunt and stuff. What if Grace hid- oh, I don't know- retinal video scanners on him?"

"Not a bad idea for a Tomas," Ted raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Hey, Sinead, how about adding retinal video scanners on our list of inventions? Maybe even throw in an auditory recording machine, that would be a first-"

"That's it!" Natalie burst out, jerking her head upwards, cutting Ted off mid-sentence.

Mr. McIntyre ogled her quizzically. "What's it, child?"

"Ned, what did you say about Dan's room earlier? Something about... uh, hairs..."

_"Everything was in order, not a hair out of place- oh, except for all the feline ones lying on the carpet," _Ned recited, knitting his eyebrows in an attempt to remember. Then all at once, a look of recognition dawned on his face. "Feline hair! Saladin! Natalie, you're a genius!"

Reagan pouted. "What hair? What do you mean?"

"Cats usually shed their hair in spring, to get rid of their winter coat," Ned explained. "But it's far from spring right now, right?" And-"

"And Dan once told me that my allergy wouldn't trouble me as much when I'm around Saladin than other cats," Natalie said. "He said that Saladin didn't shed much, compared to other felines. I told him he was being stupid, because I know for a fact that Egyptian Maus have really dense coats. They tend to shed a lot more than other breeds. But Dan also mentioned something about Saladin being really clean and fussy, that he always goes to the bathroom in his own little toilet, and that he never keeps his loose fur lying around. He said he piles it up neatly in one lump in a corner of the room."

"We always keep Sal's fur trimmed shortly, and what Dan said was true- Saladin keeps his shedding limited to one enclosed area. It really helps with the cleaning- I always thought Grace trained him like that. But as useful as the habit comes, it wouldn't make much of a difference, because he doesn't shed much at all. Even his vet deemed it peculiar..." Nellie's eyes wandered off into space, then focused with a look of understanding. "Then it wouldn't make sense for cat hairs to be lying around the floor."

"Exactly- and if Ian really did clean up after Dan, he wouldn't leave the floor unkempt like that!" Natalie exclaimed. "Has any of you checked Saladin yet?"

"Nah, I think he's still in Dan's room," Jonah creased his forehead, but he was proved wrong when the Mau, obviously bored and craving human company, strolled leisurely into Natalie's room. She let out a huge sneeze.

"Bless you, Nat... here, Sally," Nellie crooned, and swept the cat into her arms. The black USB was clearly visible against Saladin's collar, lodged firmly into place in the exact same position as Dan had left it. "Mrrp," Saladin squirmed, clawing at his neck, seemingly bothered by the foreign device irritating his skin. Nellie, using two black manicured fingernails, reached over and gently plucked the USB from between the narrow strips of leather, then held it up in triumph.

"Voilà!" She smiled, examining the red Lucian crest glinting on the smooth, black surface. "Seems like we weren't betrayed after all," she mused. "Let's see what Ian Kabra has to show us, won't we? Anyone have a computer in hand?"

* * *

_"... I'm in," _Dan's voice crackled from the computer speakers, before slipping into silence. All eyes were glued to the computer screen, where a blinking red dot continued to pulse upon a satellite map of England. According to Ian, this marked Amy's whereabouts, connected to a GPS planted in her necklace. For a while, everybody was speechless.

"So that's what happened," Fiske broke the ice, cocking his head to one side in contemplation. "I did have a hunch that the Vespers would be residing close by, but to think that they chose Stonehenge for their refuge..."

Sinead still looked a little unsure. "We all know what Ian is capable of. He could have faked the whole thing, put us on the wrong track... or again, this might be another demonstration of the technological development of the enemy. We can't decide anything yet."

"I seriously doubt that neither Ian nor the Vespers would have gone to such lengths to try and fool us all. To be honest, I think he's telling the truth," Hamilton pursed his lips, then scratched his head. "Hey, um, Nat, Chris... sorry about, you know, earlier."

Natalie nodded curtly. Her shoulders still ached where Hamilton had crushed them, and she wasn't quite ready to forgive him yet. Beside her, Chris shook his head. "Apology accepted- and no, it was understandable."

There was another little pause, before Eisenhower spoke up. "So what now? Do we go after the children, or do we devise another plan?"

Alistair bit his lip. "The agents will be arriving soon. Someone should stay behind and inform them of this recent crisis. Personally, I think Ian acted quite rashly, unlike himself. Even Dan was alert enough to notice so. Perhaps he has made the crucial mistake of overestimating himself- what can two teenagers do, against the full force of the Vespers? Even Ian, as informed as he is, doesn't know their true abilities. None of us do."

"So what, you're saying we should just wait?" Madison demanded.

"I don't see what else we can do," Broderick Wizard muttered. "It's obviously too late to stop them... yet if we all go chasing after Ian and Dan, we will be easy prey for the Vespers. Our best hope is in our reinforcements. When do they start arriving, precisely?"

"As soon as possible, they said," replied Fiske. "I've no idea. They could arrive right now, or a couple of hours later. But I expect they will all come within twenty-four hours. As much as I hate to say this, I think Alistair is right. We have nothing to do but wait, and be prepared to go after Ian and Dan when our recruits arrive. We have much to do."

As heated as the adults' discussion was, Natalie found herself distracted. It wasn't so much the fact her brother had made the crazy decision of going after Amy with Dan that bothered her, although it held its own stand. What could her brother be thinking, acting so reckless like that? Could he really be confident that two teens, as Alistair had put it, could outwit a horde of Vespers? He didn't seem at all too sure when he spoke with Dan. Or was there a part of the plan he was keeping to himself? And above all, _why hadn't he told Natalie anything before he underwent with his plan?_ Was it because it had been impulsive? Or was he betting on the chance that she would be spared by the rest of the Cahills from their suspicion if she turned out to be innocent? Either way, his actions were gambling with pure luck- it was just all so weird.

But Ian's queer behavior wasn't the main reason she felt so uneasy. At first, Natalie didn't even know what was bugging her so much until she had thought everything through carefully. And that was when Dan's voice had started ringing in her ears, getting so sharp in clarity that she could almost believe he was standing right next to her, uttering the very words that nagged her most.

_"Talk about high-tech stalking!" _

Dan had said that while criticizing Ian's overprotective feat concerning Amy's necklace and the secret tracking device. In fact, Natalie, contrary to what Ian might have thought, knew exactly which gadget her brother was talking about. She and Ian had developed it personally during the clue hunt, trying to devise a more undetectable way to spy on Amy and Dan. Of course, they had been acting on Isabel's behalf, and ended up abandoning all their plans after they found out they couldn't trust her anymore. But they had come across the discarded blueprints after the incident in the Gauntlet, while tidying up the late Kabra mansion, and decided it was too good a design to waste. Finishing the diagrams and perfecting it with a few more additions, they had shipped it off to the Lucian engineers, who produced the actual apparatus. She hadn't thought much of the invention since, and she had no idea Ian had pursued it for such purposes, either. Perhaps her brother was much more besotted with Amy Cahill than she'd originally thought.

_Interesting._

Immersed in her thoughts, Natalie didn't realize at first that her eyes were still lingering on the computer screen, with the satellite map of England zoned in on a couple slabs of rectangular stone; the bird's-eye view of Stonehenge. Nobody else was paying any attention; their thoughts had all moved off elsewhere. Therefore, it took her a moment to figure out something was going on- the pulsing red dot that marked Amy's location wasn't visible anymore.

Natalie blinked in surprise, then practically dived for the mouse. Clicking furiously, she zoomed out until the red dot was back on the screen. To her shock, it was moving away from Stonehenge and back towards London on the A303... at around thirty miles per hour, Natalie quickly calculated, numerical formulas forming in her brain as she double-checked the distance the dot was progressing every five seconds. Which meant that they were most likely transporting themselves on a car, or some similar vehicle. Frowning, Natalie spent a minute hacking into the London CCTV Control System, and connected the GPS signals from the satellite map with every camera situated upon the road the dot was taking. Instantly, a field of asphalt dominated the screen, dozens of surveillance cameras focusing on a single black minivan that was making its way into the heart of England. _Aha. _

"Er... um, everybody? I think you might need to have a look at this," Natalie called over her shoulder, keeping her eyes glued to the screen. Her tone must have been more urgent than she'd thought, because all the people in the room, including the adults, came flocking back around the computer. It didn't take long for everyone to process the situation, as sixteen pairs of eyes watched the van veer off the highway, and interchange onto the M3. Now its destination was unmistakable- the car, which carried Amy and hopefully Ian and Dan, was heading en route for London.

"You know? I think we're gonna have some company soon," Hamilton said loudly from the back of the crowd, cracking his knuckles audibly. "Let's all go get ready to kick some Vesper butt!"

"And someone make sure to keep an eye out for any support following that minivan," Sinead directed. "Hamilton's right. We've got work to do, and fast. Looks like the captors are coming back for negotiation... and what's more, they obviously aren't alone."

Fiske snapped into action. "Natalie, reinforce all the security systems within a one-mile radius of the estate. This includes the mansion itself. William and Alistair, please go and contact all the agents due today to delay their arrivals for a while. They mustn't come barging in unexpectedly- but keep them wired, we need every last person we can afford for backup. It would probably be best if they stall within London, just not too close to here. Have them ready to be summoned if called, or at least report after noon. Sinead, I think you and Ted should monitor the van, and check if they have any reinforcements of their own. Has anyone made note of the number plate?"

"No number plate- it must be an unregistered car," Chris informed him.

Fiske looked unperturbed. "It doesn't matter. Just don't lose it." He turned back to the rest of the Cahills and continued to issue orders in rapid succession, until every person was assigned a task and soon heading for their own respective positions. Natalie sped down a secret underground path toward the Lucian command center as fast as her cotton slippers and designer nightdress would take her, worrying all the while if everyone was all right, and at the same time wondering with growing dread whether Isabel was accompanying her captives as well, plotting the next move in the unpredictable course of her malevolent scheme.

* * *

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